October 16, 2017
You may surmise from the title that this was formal night and we did not dress up. If that was your surmising, you surmised correctly. Bonnie looked at the menu on the TV and found nothing she wanted, so we agreed to stay in our non-gala attire and go to the buffet. They had lobster on the buffet, anyway, and I had one – Bonnie doesn’t like them. There was a great variety of vegetables and steak every bit as good as what we had the first night. We had a table for two and enjoyed ourselves. Then we went to the World Stage, got great seats, and enjoyed the show. Now we are back in the room, obviously, with our clocks set back one more hour – tomorrow we will be only one hour ahead of you with one more to go the last night of the cruise.
Believe it or not, last night I lowered the temperature in our room twice. I called Guest Relations today and said the AC wasn’t putting out as cold as it had been. A very tall young woman came down with a thermometer to check the air coming out of the vent (she didn’t even have to stretch) and then the air in the room. She pronounced it very cold. I told her the air wasn’t coming out with as much force as it had earlier in the cruise. She said she would get someone to come and look. If someone came while we were at supper and the show I can tell no difference in the airflow, but the room is comfortable, so what’s to complain about. As someone remarked about an earlier blog, if that complaint is at the top of the world’s problems, it is small potatoes indeed, and especially from someone on their third cruise of the year. Amen!
Our disembarkation packet was in our mail slot outside our room this morning. We will be getting off Wednesday between 8 and 830 and taking a ship’s shuttle to the airport. We fly from Fort Lauderdale to Charlotte NC and then to Augusta, scheduled to get in at 7:15 p.m. I will sleep in my bed two nights and then go to a men’s retreat for a local UMC, bringing four talks – “Conversations with Jesus” – before I am back at 233 Sunday afternoon. One of my ordination counselors asked me to do it for the church she pastors, and since she was such a big help through the process I said yes. Anyone else, I would have asked for a rain check. I am such a wonderful person.
Well, it is time for Blogging Bonnie.
TTFN
Well, no sleeping pills last night. I slept a total of 7 hours, arising at 4:30 and playing on my phone till he woke at 7:30. He was strange last night. At one o’clock he hit me on the shoulder and said what are you doing. I was sound asleep and that rap woke me. I told him I was sleeping. He vows and declares he did not do it. So maybe he did it in his sleep.
I have walked 3 miles today.
He showered and dressed and I dressed and then we went to breakfast. For a change of food, I had a piece of french toast with a mixed berry topping and sausage patty. Very good. After breakfast I was off for my walk while he went to study. It was humid and a little windy but I enjoyed my walk. The crew were on deck opening all the cabinets that contain extra life vests and counting and cleaning them. I passed them as I walked. When my walk was done, I headed back to the cabin for a shower. It was really warm in the cabin, in spite of what the girl said it has been warmer in our room. Tonight seems to be better. After dressing I headed to deck 9 to find a seat and crochet. It was warm and humid outside on the deck, the cover was mostly closed because of the threat of rain showers. So I went into the tables in the buffet, found an empty one in the window and sat down to crochet. I called your Dad in the room to tell him where I was sitting, but nobody answered the phone. I left a message. When he came up he said the phone never rang and since the phone sits on the floor he didn’t notice there was a message. But he found me.
After lunch I headed to the theater, which wasn’t open because the singers and dancers were practicing. They opened late today about 1:45 for the 2 o’clock talk. The Georgetown professor has been talking about art, way above my head, reminds me of the art class I had to take in college. But at least I don’t have to remember all this stuff. He talks so fast and uses so many high fluting words and about artists I have never heard of before. Today he ran about 10 minutes long. Tomorrow his talk is at 11 so I won’t see his final talk. Your Dad is still at 3, followed of course by Bingo!
We did indeed slum it to night and eat in the Lido. Besides the lobster, which I didn’t eat, they had rib eye steaks and they were excellent. There were vegetables, sweet potatoes, purple rice, yes I said purple, and apple sauce (and mushrooms which your Dad ate and enjoyed). There were lots of other choices but I only took what I would eat. We sat in the window and watched the ocean go by.
Each day the Captain gives a report at about 12:30. Today he was telling us about the young man who is in training on this cruise. He has mentioned him before. His job this cruise has been to plot the position of the ship using the sextant, the stars , the sun, charts etc. as we cruise back to Ft Lauderdale. The first day he was off by 100 miles from our position at the end of the day, so he got some more instructions and yesterday he was only off my 9 miles. He is in training I assume to be a captain or a navigator.
Well, tomorrow it is pack and get ready to get off on Wednesday. We are scheduled to get off at 8:30 and take a shuttle to the airport. David has to go and get our passports from the desk in the morning tomorrow. We are scheduled to dock early and before anyone can get off the entire crew has to be cleared by immigration. They will come on board and inspect each crew members documents. This can take a while especially if some of them forget to go. This happened on another ship we were on. This is supposed to start at 5:30am. So here is hoping all goes smoothly. Any ship coming for the first time into port has to do this in America.
Well, he probably thinks I am never going to get done. So I had better say good night. I have finished two of my crocheting projects with the yarn I bought. They aren’t completely done but getting there.
Love you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Monday, October 16, 2017
Sunday, October 15, 2017
IN PURSUIT OF TRIVIA
October 15, 2017
We went to our first game of trivia tonight instead of listening to the operatic tenor. It is risky to join trivia well into a cruise because teams are already formed, and some people play trivia like they are winning a suitcase full of $20 bills instead of a plastic cruise line key chain. We were sitting by ourselves, content to play as a duet, when a team of 5 asked us to join. We contributed 5 correct answers out of our total score of 10 and it would have been 6 out of 11 if one of us had spoken louder (like she was yelling at me). The winning team had 12, so I thought we did okay. We were invited back to play tomorrow, but tomorrow’s show on the World Stage features the singers and dancers – our favorite – and the next day’s talk, my last for this cruise, is Henry Morgan, another new talk, and I’ll need the extra rehearsal time. So we probably won’t do trivia.
We were almost finished supper tonight with 3 other cruisers, enjoying being able to talk in a normal conversational tone when a bunch of loud ruffians appeared at an adjacent table. There went the neighborhood. Bonnie and I had Chinese Chicken Stir Fry for supper tonight – my first Chinese in over two weeks, and it was very good. Could have had a little more of the sweet and sour sauce, but tasty nonetheless. And we each had twice-baked potato soup and chilled mixed berry soup. She ordered first, and I copied her. She had a cherries jubilee sundae and I had peach crisp with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream for dessert. All was yummy.
There was a good crowd for “The Spanish Main and the Search for Eldorado.” One man stroked my ego, telling me I was the best of the three speakers. I responded by saying, “Huh?’ So he repeated it. Shame on me. One person said, “I thought you were going to talk about brown gold.” When I replied with a blank look he said, “Brown gold that the conquistadors took back to Queen Isabella.” Still no response. He said, “Chocolate!” Oh, sez I – that will go in a future talk. Thank you, sir. Another man asked me, in Spanish, “Do you speak Spanish?” I replied, in Russian, “No, but I speak a little Russian. No Spanish, however.” He said, “I thought so. You mispronounced several words.” I laughed and said, “I am confident of that. I mispronounce English.” And he laughed. Some people! Tomorrow is “When Pirates Sailed the Atlantic” and some of the worst jokes on the high seas. Also to be shown will be: one of the greatest pirates of all time who was from Puerto Rico – Number 21, playing right field, Roberto Clemente.
By my reckoning the football game should be into the second half. Hopefully the Steelers have more points than the Kansas Citys.
Well, she guesses she’ll blog tonight, so ...
TTFN
Well, 2.5 miles yesterday and 2.7 miles today. Makes me hurt like mean dog at night but it keeps me moving.
It was a great morning for my walk today. The weather was not too windy or cold. Yesterday morning I walked at 6:30 in the morning and today it was about 9am. I took one extra turn today at 1:15 because the theater wasn’t open yet when I went down after lunch.
Today was better than yesterday. By the end of the day yesterday I was not feeling good at all. Two sleeping pills, off to bed at 8:30 and I slept 11 hours. Tonight is better. We get to turn our clocks back again tonight and then, every night till we get back to Ft Lauderdale, two more times.
It is hard to believe our cruise is almost over. It has been a wonderful trip except for the snafu in Lisbon and trying to get on the ship. It is hard to get on when no one knows your name or where your room is. I hope they do a better job when we try to get on in Athens in November.
Hey Mikey did you hear about Ophelia heading for the coast of Ireland and England. The Captain said it is the first time in 30 years since a hurricane has hit there. Wow, and it is supposed to be a Category 2. That was in our Captain’s talk at noon today. The last two days the Captain’s talks have said things your Dad is saying in his talks. Quite a coincidence.
I have been making real good progress on my scarf. I have to crochet it 254 cm long and I am up to 160 so far. Then, I have to finish the 2 pockets it has and put on a hood. It should be cool when I finish. Now for some cold weather. The ship puts a condensed New York Times paper out each day and I have been keeping up with the temperatures in Atlanta, Washington DC, Rome, Athens, and Moscow. Athens has been in the 60's and low 70's and Moscow in the 50's. We will travel through the Moscow airport during our trip to Athens. I do hope some of our stops are a little cooler on the next cruise, but this one has been nice.
The trivia game was fun, but it is hard to give answers when you are in a group of 7 people. Tonight’s answers were all related to the nautical field. Your Dad did real good. We went there because I really didn’t want to listen to an operatic tenor. I am sure he was good but I really don’t enjoy songs sung in foreign languages. I have been to ones in French and Italian before on other ships.
Well, we are back in the room. I am drinking some Mio water and playing scrabble. I still have my nightly pills to take, brush my teeth, then we will probably head to bed. Even with the clocks turned back it is about 9 pm now. Good time to go to bed. Miss you all and will see you in about 4 days if you come for a visit.
Jennifer or Amy please get a gallon of 2% milk, a loaf of wonder bread and a dozen eggs for us before we get back on the 18 th. Thank you.
I have already made out my grocery list for our”Thanksgiving “ Dinner on the 28th of October. So I am already to go shopping when I get home.
Good night all, Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
We went to our first game of trivia tonight instead of listening to the operatic tenor. It is risky to join trivia well into a cruise because teams are already formed, and some people play trivia like they are winning a suitcase full of $20 bills instead of a plastic cruise line key chain. We were sitting by ourselves, content to play as a duet, when a team of 5 asked us to join. We contributed 5 correct answers out of our total score of 10 and it would have been 6 out of 11 if one of us had spoken louder (like she was yelling at me). The winning team had 12, so I thought we did okay. We were invited back to play tomorrow, but tomorrow’s show on the World Stage features the singers and dancers – our favorite – and the next day’s talk, my last for this cruise, is Henry Morgan, another new talk, and I’ll need the extra rehearsal time. So we probably won’t do trivia.
We were almost finished supper tonight with 3 other cruisers, enjoying being able to talk in a normal conversational tone when a bunch of loud ruffians appeared at an adjacent table. There went the neighborhood. Bonnie and I had Chinese Chicken Stir Fry for supper tonight – my first Chinese in over two weeks, and it was very good. Could have had a little more of the sweet and sour sauce, but tasty nonetheless. And we each had twice-baked potato soup and chilled mixed berry soup. She ordered first, and I copied her. She had a cherries jubilee sundae and I had peach crisp with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream for dessert. All was yummy.
There was a good crowd for “The Spanish Main and the Search for Eldorado.” One man stroked my ego, telling me I was the best of the three speakers. I responded by saying, “Huh?’ So he repeated it. Shame on me. One person said, “I thought you were going to talk about brown gold.” When I replied with a blank look he said, “Brown gold that the conquistadors took back to Queen Isabella.” Still no response. He said, “Chocolate!” Oh, sez I – that will go in a future talk. Thank you, sir. Another man asked me, in Spanish, “Do you speak Spanish?” I replied, in Russian, “No, but I speak a little Russian. No Spanish, however.” He said, “I thought so. You mispronounced several words.” I laughed and said, “I am confident of that. I mispronounce English.” And he laughed. Some people! Tomorrow is “When Pirates Sailed the Atlantic” and some of the worst jokes on the high seas. Also to be shown will be: one of the greatest pirates of all time who was from Puerto Rico – Number 21, playing right field, Roberto Clemente.
By my reckoning the football game should be into the second half. Hopefully the Steelers have more points than the Kansas Citys.
Well, she guesses she’ll blog tonight, so ...
TTFN
Well, 2.5 miles yesterday and 2.7 miles today. Makes me hurt like mean dog at night but it keeps me moving.
It was a great morning for my walk today. The weather was not too windy or cold. Yesterday morning I walked at 6:30 in the morning and today it was about 9am. I took one extra turn today at 1:15 because the theater wasn’t open yet when I went down after lunch.
Today was better than yesterday. By the end of the day yesterday I was not feeling good at all. Two sleeping pills, off to bed at 8:30 and I slept 11 hours. Tonight is better. We get to turn our clocks back again tonight and then, every night till we get back to Ft Lauderdale, two more times.
It is hard to believe our cruise is almost over. It has been a wonderful trip except for the snafu in Lisbon and trying to get on the ship. It is hard to get on when no one knows your name or where your room is. I hope they do a better job when we try to get on in Athens in November.
Hey Mikey did you hear about Ophelia heading for the coast of Ireland and England. The Captain said it is the first time in 30 years since a hurricane has hit there. Wow, and it is supposed to be a Category 2. That was in our Captain’s talk at noon today. The last two days the Captain’s talks have said things your Dad is saying in his talks. Quite a coincidence.
I have been making real good progress on my scarf. I have to crochet it 254 cm long and I am up to 160 so far. Then, I have to finish the 2 pockets it has and put on a hood. It should be cool when I finish. Now for some cold weather. The ship puts a condensed New York Times paper out each day and I have been keeping up with the temperatures in Atlanta, Washington DC, Rome, Athens, and Moscow. Athens has been in the 60's and low 70's and Moscow in the 50's. We will travel through the Moscow airport during our trip to Athens. I do hope some of our stops are a little cooler on the next cruise, but this one has been nice.
The trivia game was fun, but it is hard to give answers when you are in a group of 7 people. Tonight’s answers were all related to the nautical field. Your Dad did real good. We went there because I really didn’t want to listen to an operatic tenor. I am sure he was good but I really don’t enjoy songs sung in foreign languages. I have been to ones in French and Italian before on other ships.
Well, we are back in the room. I am drinking some Mio water and playing scrabble. I still have my nightly pills to take, brush my teeth, then we will probably head to bed. Even with the clocks turned back it is about 9 pm now. Good time to go to bed. Miss you all and will see you in about 4 days if you come for a visit.
Jennifer or Amy please get a gallon of 2% milk, a loaf of wonder bread and a dozen eggs for us before we get back on the 18 th. Thank you.
I have already made out my grocery list for our”Thanksgiving “ Dinner on the 28th of October. So I am already to go shopping when I get home.
Good night all, Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Saturday, October 14, 2017
EARLY TO BED – EARLY TO RISE
October 14, 2017
Last night we turned the lights out about ten and snuggled in – mama in her kerchief and I in my cap had just settled ourselves for a long winter’s nap because I set the alarm for 6 a.m. I was actually up at 5:45 and in the shower so I would be ready for room service at 6:30. A very delicious three egg omelet with black forest ham and cheddar cheese. It came hot and the toast was warm and the coffee was hot. A good breakfast, indeed. And then I rehearsed John Harrison twice so I could perform well at 10:00. It went well except for one date I had wrong on one PowerPoint slide. Instead of 1764, I had 2017, and I have no idea why. I finished that one in July and have gone over it repeatedly getting ready for this morning’s show. Never saw it until I put the slide up for the audience. I stopped and said, “That can’t be right!” Got a chuckle.
Mom is moving slow tonight. I think the 6 a.m. start has caught up with her. She is heading to bed early, so I will tell you about lunch and her experience. She can rebut my account tomorrow, but tonight the telling is mine, all mine.
After my talk, I stayed at the World Stage to hear one of the other speakers. He is doing some World War II talks and I haven’t gotten to hear him yet. Mom went off to crochet and then we met up in one of the other venues for a BBC Planet Earth movie. Amazing film footage. Amazing camera work.
Then we went to the Lido for lunch. I decided to have a bowl of stir fried vegetables and shrimp. She wanted a Ruben sandwich. Rubens are on Deck 10. Stir fry is on Deck 9. I waited for her to go up and she was back down with a pager in her hand. They told her it would take 15-20 minutes to get it out because of the other orders in front of her (one woman ordered 4 sandwiches and 2 pizzas). I told her the line at stir fry was almost that long, so I would get us a seat. 20 minutes later I have my stir fry and our seat and no Bonnie. Five minutes. Ten minutes. She comes to the table with french fries and a hamburger. They totally forgot her order and she refused to wait another 20 minutes. As she said one time at the Masters, it did not make her happy. I don’t know if she will give them another chance or not.
Well, it is off to post this and rehearse some for “The Spanish Main and the Search for Eldorado,” my offering for tomorrow. On at 3 p.m. Sleep late.
TTFN
Last night we turned the lights out about ten and snuggled in – mama in her kerchief and I in my cap had just settled ourselves for a long winter’s nap because I set the alarm for 6 a.m. I was actually up at 5:45 and in the shower so I would be ready for room service at 6:30. A very delicious three egg omelet with black forest ham and cheddar cheese. It came hot and the toast was warm and the coffee was hot. A good breakfast, indeed. And then I rehearsed John Harrison twice so I could perform well at 10:00. It went well except for one date I had wrong on one PowerPoint slide. Instead of 1764, I had 2017, and I have no idea why. I finished that one in July and have gone over it repeatedly getting ready for this morning’s show. Never saw it until I put the slide up for the audience. I stopped and said, “That can’t be right!” Got a chuckle.
Mom is moving slow tonight. I think the 6 a.m. start has caught up with her. She is heading to bed early, so I will tell you about lunch and her experience. She can rebut my account tomorrow, but tonight the telling is mine, all mine.
After my talk, I stayed at the World Stage to hear one of the other speakers. He is doing some World War II talks and I haven’t gotten to hear him yet. Mom went off to crochet and then we met up in one of the other venues for a BBC Planet Earth movie. Amazing film footage. Amazing camera work.
Then we went to the Lido for lunch. I decided to have a bowl of stir fried vegetables and shrimp. She wanted a Ruben sandwich. Rubens are on Deck 10. Stir fry is on Deck 9. I waited for her to go up and she was back down with a pager in her hand. They told her it would take 15-20 minutes to get it out because of the other orders in front of her (one woman ordered 4 sandwiches and 2 pizzas). I told her the line at stir fry was almost that long, so I would get us a seat. 20 minutes later I have my stir fry and our seat and no Bonnie. Five minutes. Ten minutes. She comes to the table with french fries and a hamburger. They totally forgot her order and she refused to wait another 20 minutes. As she said one time at the Masters, it did not make her happy. I don’t know if she will give them another chance or not.
Well, it is off to post this and rehearse some for “The Spanish Main and the Search for Eldorado,” my offering for tomorrow. On at 3 p.m. Sleep late.
TTFN
Friday, October 13, 2017
TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA
October 13, 2017
Well Happy Friday the 13th y’all! Any triskaidekaphobians out there? Then this is a bad day for you. Just knock on wood and throw some salt over your left shoulder with your right hand and you should be okay!
Tomorrow my talk is at 10 a.m. because the magician has been inserted into my time slot to do some close-up magic and teach some tricks. That means room service in Stateroom 1067, and a three egg ham and cheese omelet. My first room service on this cruise. My talk tomorrow is “John Harrison: The “creator” of longitude, or how we get from here to there.” This will be the first time I’ve done this talk, and I’ve been sneaking in extra rehearsals around talks I’ve done before.
The show tonight was “1000 Steps” and featured the Koningsdam Singers and Dancers. It was ball room music with a Latin beat. Bonnie and I both remarked after the show, “How do those dancers change costumes so quickly?” The show was great and the cast got a long, and well-deserved applause.
Well, 0600 comes awfully early (that’s my alarm time), and I need to rehearse before bedtime. My cabin mate may not get a chance to beat me tonight. She stomped another mud hole in me last night and now leads 1-6. I may never recover.
TTFN
2.7 miles today. Up at 5 am, couldn’t sleep. We both got up about 7. I dressed and he showered. We ventured out to breakfast. Then, I went walking, very cool and windy, and he went to practice. After my walk in what was a cloudy, rainy overcast morning, I returned to the cabin to shower and go out to find a spot to crochet on Lido. They had closed the cover over the deck since it was rainy so it was not cool as I had hoped. He came up early for lunch because he wanted to go Angel’s talk. They didn’t open the theater till 1:30 because they were practicing for tonight’s show. So I patiently waited outside the theater. I had a small plate of spaghetti with marinara sauce for lunch today. I am glad I did because supper was not very good. The corn chowder soup was good, the pineapple sundae was good but the salad was not as described in the menu and was not good. My entree was a chicken and quinoa pasta and not very tasty. Oh, well.
The show was very good and there was a full audience. Our supper started out moving very fast and we thought we might get out early but after they removed the main course plates it took over 30 minutes to serve dessert and coffee. We managed to find 2 seats that weren’t being saved that were high enough so I could see. People are very selfish. I can see saving a seat for your mate if they are a little late or at the restroom. But laying something over 4 or 5 seats is not right. Oh well, that is just my opinion.
Well, tomorrow we will be up early. Up at 6am and I will go walking about 6:30. Then, breakfast by myself upstairs and then back to the room to shower. Then I will head to the theater for his talk. There is another BBC show, called “Inside Earth: Extreme Worlds” at noon tomorrow we will probably go to see. It sounds interesting. There really hasn’t been a lot of activities to do but I enjoy sitting, watching people and crocheting.
Well, that is all for now. He needs to do some studying before bedtime.
Love, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Well Happy Friday the 13th y’all! Any triskaidekaphobians out there? Then this is a bad day for you. Just knock on wood and throw some salt over your left shoulder with your right hand and you should be okay!
Tomorrow my talk is at 10 a.m. because the magician has been inserted into my time slot to do some close-up magic and teach some tricks. That means room service in Stateroom 1067, and a three egg ham and cheese omelet. My first room service on this cruise. My talk tomorrow is “John Harrison: The “creator” of longitude, or how we get from here to there.” This will be the first time I’ve done this talk, and I’ve been sneaking in extra rehearsals around talks I’ve done before.
The show tonight was “1000 Steps” and featured the Koningsdam Singers and Dancers. It was ball room music with a Latin beat. Bonnie and I both remarked after the show, “How do those dancers change costumes so quickly?” The show was great and the cast got a long, and well-deserved applause.
Well, 0600 comes awfully early (that’s my alarm time), and I need to rehearse before bedtime. My cabin mate may not get a chance to beat me tonight. She stomped another mud hole in me last night and now leads 1-6. I may never recover.
TTFN
2.7 miles today. Up at 5 am, couldn’t sleep. We both got up about 7. I dressed and he showered. We ventured out to breakfast. Then, I went walking, very cool and windy, and he went to practice. After my walk in what was a cloudy, rainy overcast morning, I returned to the cabin to shower and go out to find a spot to crochet on Lido. They had closed the cover over the deck since it was rainy so it was not cool as I had hoped. He came up early for lunch because he wanted to go Angel’s talk. They didn’t open the theater till 1:30 because they were practicing for tonight’s show. So I patiently waited outside the theater. I had a small plate of spaghetti with marinara sauce for lunch today. I am glad I did because supper was not very good. The corn chowder soup was good, the pineapple sundae was good but the salad was not as described in the menu and was not good. My entree was a chicken and quinoa pasta and not very tasty. Oh, well.
The show was very good and there was a full audience. Our supper started out moving very fast and we thought we might get out early but after they removed the main course plates it took over 30 minutes to serve dessert and coffee. We managed to find 2 seats that weren’t being saved that were high enough so I could see. People are very selfish. I can see saving a seat for your mate if they are a little late or at the restroom. But laying something over 4 or 5 seats is not right. Oh well, that is just my opinion.
Well, tomorrow we will be up early. Up at 6am and I will go walking about 6:30. Then, breakfast by myself upstairs and then back to the room to shower. Then I will head to the theater for his talk. There is another BBC show, called “Inside Earth: Extreme Worlds” at noon tomorrow we will probably go to see. It sounds interesting. There really hasn’t been a lot of activities to do but I enjoy sitting, watching people and crocheting.
Well, that is all for now. He needs to do some studying before bedtime.
Love, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Thursday, October 12, 2017
THE BARBARY PIRATES
October 12, 2017
The title of tonight’s blog was the title of my talk today. The subtitle is America’s first war with terrorism. I talk about the Islamic terrorists – because that’s what the Barbary pirates were very matter of factly, and have a couple of light moments, too. One is “The Sack of Baltimore.” This Baltimore is a small town on the coast of County Cork, Ireland. I start the story by showing a picture of Troy Polamolu (speeling?) sacking Joe Flaco. I apologize and then show a picture of Flaco sacked by “Deebo” Harrison. Always gets a laugh. Today it got applause.
The next to the last part of the talk features the Marine Hymn and a clip from “The Sands of Iwo Jima.” I always ask the audience to give a salute to the men and women who have served. And I play a piece that Francis Scott Key wrote about the Barbary War. It is set to the tune of the “Star Spangled Banner.” I always tell the audience the song is not what you think it is, please don’t stand up. Then I said FSK wrote another song and it is set to the same tune, and I think all Americans should stand up when that song is played. That comment got a warm round of applause. That is my political commentary for this cruise.
I talked to the technical director today after my talk, and he told me that they will be building a set for tomorrow night’s entertainment, and when they record my talk (and they record all of them and put them on ship’s tv) they will only be able to record my voice and the PowerPoint. I will not be seen. He said, “Since they won’t see you on tv, tomorrow is ugly shirt day.”
In last night’s game of Rummy, I had a commanding lead, had Bonnie in the hole, and then I started scoring 5 points a hand, 25 points a hand, while she came storming back and beat me. The score is 1-5. I am being stomped. It is sad and depressing. But there are 5 more nights, and with clever, careful play, the cruise can end up 6-5. I’ll let you know.
Well, that’s my part. Hereeeee’s Bonnie!
TTFN
Well, only 2.3 miles today. It was a little rocky today walking, people running(when they are not supposed to do so), pushing by me at narrow places on the walking way and other sundry things. But I enjoy the fresh air and the walk. After breakfast, (and we actually got a table in the window today!), walking and showering it was off to deck 9 to sit and watch people and crochet. I am making good progress on my second project that I bought with me. I will probably go back to my first project after tomorrow because it is a scarf and hat for colder weather, perchance we get some this year in GA.
David joined me for lunch, where I up dumped my drink all over the place. I cleaned up my mess and continued with my lunch. Then, I went to the theater and waited for the 2 o’clock show to start. I set my camera up for the first talk so I could get it set for your Dad’s at 3. I did a better job of taping today. Probably with the stage building tomorrow I will have a tough time doing it. Will see. After his talk I was really tired, so I we went back to the cabin and I took a short nap before dressing and going to supper. We sat at a table with a lady we had sat with before. Very nice person to talk to. The other 3 people at the table were a family of three from Canada, the wife was originally from England. A very old couple, in their 80's I would guess and their daughter who had downs syndrome. The girl could have been their granddaughter, I am not sure. Nice couple. Father didn’t say hardly 2 words during supper but the wife talked to me frequently. It was difficult to talk across the table. It is often very loud in the dining room. I had an English supper, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, which is a large puffy roll. Dessert was ice cream. I did have an appetizer of tomato and zucchini soup. Your Dad had snails!, again.
The show was a magician/comedienne. He did about 5 tricks and was okay. Not as annoying as come magicians are. We were both tired so we headed back to the room. It was only 8:12 and the guys hadn’t made up the room yet, so we told them not to bother there wasn’t any thing that needed done. We got a copy of the “when& where” for tomorrow and a bucket of ice and we were good. So now we have finished our blog and will be to bed shortly.
Love to all,
Mom, Granny and Bonnie
The title of tonight’s blog was the title of my talk today. The subtitle is America’s first war with terrorism. I talk about the Islamic terrorists – because that’s what the Barbary pirates were very matter of factly, and have a couple of light moments, too. One is “The Sack of Baltimore.” This Baltimore is a small town on the coast of County Cork, Ireland. I start the story by showing a picture of Troy Polamolu (speeling?) sacking Joe Flaco. I apologize and then show a picture of Flaco sacked by “Deebo” Harrison. Always gets a laugh. Today it got applause.
The next to the last part of the talk features the Marine Hymn and a clip from “The Sands of Iwo Jima.” I always ask the audience to give a salute to the men and women who have served. And I play a piece that Francis Scott Key wrote about the Barbary War. It is set to the tune of the “Star Spangled Banner.” I always tell the audience the song is not what you think it is, please don’t stand up. Then I said FSK wrote another song and it is set to the same tune, and I think all Americans should stand up when that song is played. That comment got a warm round of applause. That is my political commentary for this cruise.
I talked to the technical director today after my talk, and he told me that they will be building a set for tomorrow night’s entertainment, and when they record my talk (and they record all of them and put them on ship’s tv) they will only be able to record my voice and the PowerPoint. I will not be seen. He said, “Since they won’t see you on tv, tomorrow is ugly shirt day.”
In last night’s game of Rummy, I had a commanding lead, had Bonnie in the hole, and then I started scoring 5 points a hand, 25 points a hand, while she came storming back and beat me. The score is 1-5. I am being stomped. It is sad and depressing. But there are 5 more nights, and with clever, careful play, the cruise can end up 6-5. I’ll let you know.
Well, that’s my part. Hereeeee’s Bonnie!
TTFN
Well, only 2.3 miles today. It was a little rocky today walking, people running(when they are not supposed to do so), pushing by me at narrow places on the walking way and other sundry things. But I enjoy the fresh air and the walk. After breakfast, (and we actually got a table in the window today!), walking and showering it was off to deck 9 to sit and watch people and crochet. I am making good progress on my second project that I bought with me. I will probably go back to my first project after tomorrow because it is a scarf and hat for colder weather, perchance we get some this year in GA.
David joined me for lunch, where I up dumped my drink all over the place. I cleaned up my mess and continued with my lunch. Then, I went to the theater and waited for the 2 o’clock show to start. I set my camera up for the first talk so I could get it set for your Dad’s at 3. I did a better job of taping today. Probably with the stage building tomorrow I will have a tough time doing it. Will see. After his talk I was really tired, so I we went back to the cabin and I took a short nap before dressing and going to supper. We sat at a table with a lady we had sat with before. Very nice person to talk to. The other 3 people at the table were a family of three from Canada, the wife was originally from England. A very old couple, in their 80's I would guess and their daughter who had downs syndrome. The girl could have been their granddaughter, I am not sure. Nice couple. Father didn’t say hardly 2 words during supper but the wife talked to me frequently. It was difficult to talk across the table. It is often very loud in the dining room. I had an English supper, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, which is a large puffy roll. Dessert was ice cream. I did have an appetizer of tomato and zucchini soup. Your Dad had snails!, again.
The show was a magician/comedienne. He did about 5 tricks and was okay. Not as annoying as come magicians are. We were both tired so we headed back to the room. It was only 8:12 and the guys hadn’t made up the room yet, so we told them not to bother there wasn’t any thing that needed done. We got a copy of the “when& where” for tomorrow and a bucket of ice and we were good. So now we have finished our blog and will be to bed shortly.
Love to all,
Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
THESE KLINGON FOOD PACKS ARE GIVING ME A SOUR STOMACH
October 11, 2017
This was the 2nd formal night of the cruise, with one more to go. One of the things I like about Holland America Line is many, many people dress up. On other ships, it seems as those who even wear a sport coat and tie are becoming fewer in number. I bought my tuxedo 27 years ago and it still fits, and I like to wear it. Each evening when I put it on, I look into the mirror and do my best Sean Connery: Bond. James Bond.
Formal night gets a different menu and tonight I chose filet mignon. Excellent. And for dessert Grand Marnier Soufflet. Also very good.
On the World Stage tonight was the musical artistry of Kenny Martyn, with clarinet tribute to Benny Goodman. An excellent musician. He did things with a clarinet I didn’t know an artist could do. And the ship’s backup orchestra is fantastic. They get the guest performer’s music about a day early and are ready to go on stage as thought they’ve had it for months. We really have had outstanding entertainment on our cruise.
Carson, the cruise director, promised line dancing during the crossing, and Mom has been reading the daily program with the proverbial fine toothed comb, and so far, no “Stupid Shuffle” or other pieces. She is most displeased. And that doesn’t even take into account that there has not been a single announcement about Zumba. What’s a girl to do? She walks.
There was a message on our phone this afternoon from Blair, the Entertainment Director, changing one of my talks from 3 p.m. to 10 a.m. That means breakfast in the room courtesy of room service. It is the day of one of my new talks, so I’ll be putting extra time on it in the days before. Speaking of rehearsal, tomorrow is “The Barbary Pirates,” and I’m going to re-read the script while Bonnie blogs
TTFN
Well, the clock goes backwards again tonight so we will probably be in bed by 8:30. We are really the night owls! Well, no sleeping pills last night and I slept to 5 (the ship was slightly rocking last night, good sleeping moves), woke and then went back to sleep till 8. We got up, he showered, and dressed. I put on my walking outfit, got my kindle and headphones and we headed to breakfast. I had fruit, egg and a sticky bun. Very good. I have been having cantaloupe for breakfast and it has been very sweet and good. After breakfast I head to deck 3 (walking down 6 flights of stairs) and begin my walk as I listen to my book. Three times around deck 3 is a mile. After walking it is back to the room for a shower, as I am very sweaty, and dress for the day. I trade my kindle for my crocheting bag and head to deck 9 to find a comfy spot to watch people and crochet. I take my water bottle with me and try to drink a large bottle of water while I sit. Today was the sale on the Lido deck of their left overs from other cruises. I waited till most of the crowd had gone and then went to peruse the goodies. I found some greatly reduced presents for the grand kids.
About 12:30 your Dad arrived for lunch. He had stir fry but I couldn’t decide what I wanted so I just had a hamburger. After lunch he heads to the room to get ready for his talk at 3. I headed to the theater to find a seat and set up the camera so I can tape his talk (again walking down this time 7 flights of stairs and then up 1 to avoid the casino). This will be my third attempt at taping. Still looking for the best spot to get a good picture. My attempt today was the best yet. Still could be better. The speaker before him is the college professor from Georgetown. Today his talk was on the 3 A’s of modern surgery and their development. Deep stuff. But a lot of people seem to like it. Though half the words and stuff they probably don’t understand. Some of his slides were better today but still way to much stuff.
Dad had almost a full house. They turned the sound of his talk off and so the first sound track he had didn’t play. He had to ask them to turn it on and turn it up the other two places where he had sound. Don’t know why they kept turning it off.
After the talk back to the room to dress. Took a few minutes to rest and then have to dress for formal night. I hope people don’t notice but I am wearing the same outfit all 3 formal nights. Had a table with one couple we have sat with before, very nice, and another older couple who were just okay.
Show was great. The guy could really play the clarinet. He played basically big band music, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and the like. Very talented. Really enjoyed the show. And tonight we actually got through supper in time to make the first show. WooHoo.
We came back to the cabin and were dressed for bed when there came a knock at the door. Quick grab the robe out of the closet, David, and cover up with a blanket, me. It was our clean laundry from today. Wow that was fast. Good thing, I only brought 5 outfits for daily wear. I actually didn’t have any black socks to wear tonight and had to wear gray. Oh well, I am sure nobody noticed.
Well, I will be crocheting again tomorrow. There really isn’t any activities that interest me but I enjoy sitting on deck and watching people. There is always something to see. Some things you don’t want to see. I meet a nice young man, Charton, no L, who was cleaning tables, picking up dirty dishes and offering to get drinks or anything you wanted. We chatted a couple of times. A very nice young man. I thought about Rachel Bryn because he had a retainer on his upper teeth.
By the way it was 2.5 miles walking today!
Love you all.
Mom, Granny and Bonnie
This was the 2nd formal night of the cruise, with one more to go. One of the things I like about Holland America Line is many, many people dress up. On other ships, it seems as those who even wear a sport coat and tie are becoming fewer in number. I bought my tuxedo 27 years ago and it still fits, and I like to wear it. Each evening when I put it on, I look into the mirror and do my best Sean Connery: Bond. James Bond.
Formal night gets a different menu and tonight I chose filet mignon. Excellent. And for dessert Grand Marnier Soufflet. Also very good.
On the World Stage tonight was the musical artistry of Kenny Martyn, with clarinet tribute to Benny Goodman. An excellent musician. He did things with a clarinet I didn’t know an artist could do. And the ship’s backup orchestra is fantastic. They get the guest performer’s music about a day early and are ready to go on stage as thought they’ve had it for months. We really have had outstanding entertainment on our cruise.
Carson, the cruise director, promised line dancing during the crossing, and Mom has been reading the daily program with the proverbial fine toothed comb, and so far, no “Stupid Shuffle” or other pieces. She is most displeased. And that doesn’t even take into account that there has not been a single announcement about Zumba. What’s a girl to do? She walks.
There was a message on our phone this afternoon from Blair, the Entertainment Director, changing one of my talks from 3 p.m. to 10 a.m. That means breakfast in the room courtesy of room service. It is the day of one of my new talks, so I’ll be putting extra time on it in the days before. Speaking of rehearsal, tomorrow is “The Barbary Pirates,” and I’m going to re-read the script while Bonnie blogs
TTFN
Well, the clock goes backwards again tonight so we will probably be in bed by 8:30. We are really the night owls! Well, no sleeping pills last night and I slept to 5 (the ship was slightly rocking last night, good sleeping moves), woke and then went back to sleep till 8. We got up, he showered, and dressed. I put on my walking outfit, got my kindle and headphones and we headed to breakfast. I had fruit, egg and a sticky bun. Very good. I have been having cantaloupe for breakfast and it has been very sweet and good. After breakfast I head to deck 3 (walking down 6 flights of stairs) and begin my walk as I listen to my book. Three times around deck 3 is a mile. After walking it is back to the room for a shower, as I am very sweaty, and dress for the day. I trade my kindle for my crocheting bag and head to deck 9 to find a comfy spot to watch people and crochet. I take my water bottle with me and try to drink a large bottle of water while I sit. Today was the sale on the Lido deck of their left overs from other cruises. I waited till most of the crowd had gone and then went to peruse the goodies. I found some greatly reduced presents for the grand kids.
About 12:30 your Dad arrived for lunch. He had stir fry but I couldn’t decide what I wanted so I just had a hamburger. After lunch he heads to the room to get ready for his talk at 3. I headed to the theater to find a seat and set up the camera so I can tape his talk (again walking down this time 7 flights of stairs and then up 1 to avoid the casino). This will be my third attempt at taping. Still looking for the best spot to get a good picture. My attempt today was the best yet. Still could be better. The speaker before him is the college professor from Georgetown. Today his talk was on the 3 A’s of modern surgery and their development. Deep stuff. But a lot of people seem to like it. Though half the words and stuff they probably don’t understand. Some of his slides were better today but still way to much stuff.
Dad had almost a full house. They turned the sound of his talk off and so the first sound track he had didn’t play. He had to ask them to turn it on and turn it up the other two places where he had sound. Don’t know why they kept turning it off.
After the talk back to the room to dress. Took a few minutes to rest and then have to dress for formal night. I hope people don’t notice but I am wearing the same outfit all 3 formal nights. Had a table with one couple we have sat with before, very nice, and another older couple who were just okay.
Show was great. The guy could really play the clarinet. He played basically big band music, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and the like. Very talented. Really enjoyed the show. And tonight we actually got through supper in time to make the first show. WooHoo.
We came back to the cabin and were dressed for bed when there came a knock at the door. Quick grab the robe out of the closet, David, and cover up with a blanket, me. It was our clean laundry from today. Wow that was fast. Good thing, I only brought 5 outfits for daily wear. I actually didn’t have any black socks to wear tonight and had to wear gray. Oh well, I am sure nobody noticed.
Well, I will be crocheting again tomorrow. There really isn’t any activities that interest me but I enjoy sitting on deck and watching people. There is always something to see. Some things you don’t want to see. I meet a nice young man, Charton, no L, who was cleaning tables, picking up dirty dishes and offering to get drinks or anything you wanted. We chatted a couple of times. A very nice young man. I thought about Rachel Bryn because he had a retainer on his upper teeth.
By the way it was 2.5 miles walking today!
Love you all.
Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
SEE YA OPHELIA
October 10, 2017
Captain Darren told us at sail away this afternoon that there is a tropical depression in the South Atlantic named Ophelia. She is in that part of the ocean where hurricanes form, and so he has altered his original course to Fort Lauderdale, taking us on the northerly Great Circle Route. After a couple of days we will have passed Ophelia and will then take a more southerly route to port. Nothing but blue skies and calm seas, O Lord, let it be.
Men have the reputation of not asking for directions. Outside of Augusta, I did not think my beloved wife could find her way around town. But she surprised me today. I applauded with sincerity. Yesterday while riding the Big Yellow Bus we passed an embroidery shop and today she said she wanted to walk to it. I figured we were in for a hike to no where, and all at once, there it was – the embroidery store! And what beautiful pieces they had. The pieces are all made by hand in homes scattered throughout the island. They are not machine made items. The factory is a museum where it shows the history and samples of some of the greatest embroidery creations available. But the museum is closed, and even though we found it, we could not get in. So we settled for two cones of gelato instead.
Bonnie said dinner tonight was slow. From the time we sat down until the time we had finished our desserts (creme brulee for me) it was two hours. I enjoyed the leisurely pace and the good dinner table conversation, but we did not make it to the 7:15 show on the World Stage (a comedy juggler). So we went into the Billboard lounge and played a game of rummy and she demolished me in 6 hands and leads the Sea Series 4 games to 1. Then we went to the show. Not my favorite of the cruise, but he was definitely a talented performer.
An annoying kid from the audience was picked to help with one of the tricks, and if he were mine, I’d tie a rope around his waist and drag him behind the ship until he learned to behave. But his mother just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. It made me cringe when I realized she had introduced her little urchin to me after my first talk and told me he likes pirates. I am going to see the Entertainment Director tomorrow to see if I can switch to my Edible History series. Just kidding. Maybe.
Well, it is time to give Bon the keyboard for rebuttal.
TTFN
Well, I slept to 5am and then went back to sleep till 7:15, (having taken two sleeping pills last night instead of one). Hopefully tonight I can sleep with none. The ship is rocking slightly and that is always good sleeping. The high tomorrow is only 68 and I am looking forward to that. Though today was very overcast and only about 72 most of the morning it was very nice outside. We left the ship about 10 and rode the shuttle to town. Very nice ride about 10 minutes. When we got off the bus, we headed to the left and up the big hill.
We walked past a garden area we had visited on an early visit but the embroidery shop I thought I had seen was at the top of a big hill. About a 2 or 3 tenth mile walk straight up,
then we arrived and spent about 30 minutes looking at things, most way out of my price range, and I ended up buying a small linen hand towel with a embroidered pattern that showed about 6 of the different stitches. It cost 32 euros. Very expensive but quite beautiful. They have a web site and I want to look at it when I get home.
Then, we headed across the street and back down the hill and came to a garden called the Presidents Garden. There are actually 3 gardens in a row. This one cost 1 euro each to visit. The other 2 are free. But this was well worth the cost. Beautiful flowers, cages with parrots and canaries and a pond with large gold fish. It overlooked the ocean. We sent about 30 minutes or more looking and taking pictures. One of the large blue, yellow and green parrots was having his morning bath in a bowl of water sitting on the floor of the cage. I videoed him because it was quite fascinating. I will show you when I get home.
After leaving the park we walked on down and into the town looking for the embroidery factory. We stopped in several shops to look and make a few purchases. As we headed back to the shuttle we consumed our gelato cones as we walked. There were 6 cruise ships in dock today. There were people everywhere. But we enjoyed our walk. We walked a total of 3 miles today.
Supper was very SLOW! It took 45 minutes to get our first appetizer. We both had chicken cordon blue for supper. It was very tasty.
We had met the juggler earlier in the day as we got off the shuttle bus when we got back to the ship. He was waiting to get on and said “come to my show tonight”. Then, he showed us his shirt which showed a juggler. We said we would. It was a good show with a few bad jokes. But I could have done with out the annoying child (he really was an obnoxious kid and his mother seemed to think it was funny).
David was napping and I decided to go up and see boarding and sail away at 3:30. Well, it was very interesting. First there was a tour that was late getting back, and some other straggler guests. So at 3:50 ( departure time was scheduled for 4) we were still tied up and the gangway was not pulled up. That was when the Captain came on and said that finally all passengers were on board but we had to wait for someone who was disembarking. Strange. Well, I was standing along the rail and by 4:50 when the departing person was finally off and the gangway removed, we began our move. It appeared that the person leaving was a crew member, the security people carried his luggage ( 2 suitcase, 2 large duffle bags and a backpack) off. I saw him put his passport into the backpack. I don’t think this was a voluntary disembarking. We were almost an hour late in departing. That was costly I am sure.
Well, tomorrow is a sea day and a talk for Dad. I will get back to my crocheting. I was working on one of my projects this afternoon while he napped and had to tear out 3 rows because the pattern was misleading. I got one row back in but have 2 more to put back in before I can continue. Also, I will be walking after breakfast in the morning since we can have breakfast together tomorrow.
Well, he says I am writing War and Peace again so I will say goodnight to all.
Love Mom Granny and Bonnie
Captain Darren told us at sail away this afternoon that there is a tropical depression in the South Atlantic named Ophelia. She is in that part of the ocean where hurricanes form, and so he has altered his original course to Fort Lauderdale, taking us on the northerly Great Circle Route. After a couple of days we will have passed Ophelia and will then take a more southerly route to port. Nothing but blue skies and calm seas, O Lord, let it be.
Men have the reputation of not asking for directions. Outside of Augusta, I did not think my beloved wife could find her way around town. But she surprised me today. I applauded with sincerity. Yesterday while riding the Big Yellow Bus we passed an embroidery shop and today she said she wanted to walk to it. I figured we were in for a hike to no where, and all at once, there it was – the embroidery store! And what beautiful pieces they had. The pieces are all made by hand in homes scattered throughout the island. They are not machine made items. The factory is a museum where it shows the history and samples of some of the greatest embroidery creations available. But the museum is closed, and even though we found it, we could not get in. So we settled for two cones of gelato instead.
Bonnie said dinner tonight was slow. From the time we sat down until the time we had finished our desserts (creme brulee for me) it was two hours. I enjoyed the leisurely pace and the good dinner table conversation, but we did not make it to the 7:15 show on the World Stage (a comedy juggler). So we went into the Billboard lounge and played a game of rummy and she demolished me in 6 hands and leads the Sea Series 4 games to 1. Then we went to the show. Not my favorite of the cruise, but he was definitely a talented performer.
An annoying kid from the audience was picked to help with one of the tricks, and if he were mine, I’d tie a rope around his waist and drag him behind the ship until he learned to behave. But his mother just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. It made me cringe when I realized she had introduced her little urchin to me after my first talk and told me he likes pirates. I am going to see the Entertainment Director tomorrow to see if I can switch to my Edible History series. Just kidding. Maybe.
Well, it is time to give Bon the keyboard for rebuttal.
TTFN
Well, I slept to 5am and then went back to sleep till 7:15, (having taken two sleeping pills last night instead of one). Hopefully tonight I can sleep with none. The ship is rocking slightly and that is always good sleeping. The high tomorrow is only 68 and I am looking forward to that. Though today was very overcast and only about 72 most of the morning it was very nice outside. We left the ship about 10 and rode the shuttle to town. Very nice ride about 10 minutes. When we got off the bus, we headed to the left and up the big hill.
We walked past a garden area we had visited on an early visit but the embroidery shop I thought I had seen was at the top of a big hill. About a 2 or 3 tenth mile walk straight up,
then we arrived and spent about 30 minutes looking at things, most way out of my price range, and I ended up buying a small linen hand towel with a embroidered pattern that showed about 6 of the different stitches. It cost 32 euros. Very expensive but quite beautiful. They have a web site and I want to look at it when I get home.
Then, we headed across the street and back down the hill and came to a garden called the Presidents Garden. There are actually 3 gardens in a row. This one cost 1 euro each to visit. The other 2 are free. But this was well worth the cost. Beautiful flowers, cages with parrots and canaries and a pond with large gold fish. It overlooked the ocean. We sent about 30 minutes or more looking and taking pictures. One of the large blue, yellow and green parrots was having his morning bath in a bowl of water sitting on the floor of the cage. I videoed him because it was quite fascinating. I will show you when I get home.
After leaving the park we walked on down and into the town looking for the embroidery factory. We stopped in several shops to look and make a few purchases. As we headed back to the shuttle we consumed our gelato cones as we walked. There were 6 cruise ships in dock today. There were people everywhere. But we enjoyed our walk. We walked a total of 3 miles today.
Supper was very SLOW! It took 45 minutes to get our first appetizer. We both had chicken cordon blue for supper. It was very tasty.
We had met the juggler earlier in the day as we got off the shuttle bus when we got back to the ship. He was waiting to get on and said “come to my show tonight”. Then, he showed us his shirt which showed a juggler. We said we would. It was a good show with a few bad jokes. But I could have done with out the annoying child (he really was an obnoxious kid and his mother seemed to think it was funny).
David was napping and I decided to go up and see boarding and sail away at 3:30. Well, it was very interesting. First there was a tour that was late getting back, and some other straggler guests. So at 3:50 ( departure time was scheduled for 4) we were still tied up and the gangway was not pulled up. That was when the Captain came on and said that finally all passengers were on board but we had to wait for someone who was disembarking. Strange. Well, I was standing along the rail and by 4:50 when the departing person was finally off and the gangway removed, we began our move. It appeared that the person leaving was a crew member, the security people carried his luggage ( 2 suitcase, 2 large duffle bags and a backpack) off. I saw him put his passport into the backpack. I don’t think this was a voluntary disembarking. We were almost an hour late in departing. That was costly I am sure.
Well, tomorrow is a sea day and a talk for Dad. I will get back to my crocheting. I was working on one of my projects this afternoon while he napped and had to tear out 3 rows because the pattern was misleading. I got one row back in but have 2 more to put back in before I can continue. Also, I will be walking after breakfast in the morning since we can have breakfast together tomorrow.
Well, he says I am writing War and Peace again so I will say goodnight to all.
Love Mom Granny and Bonnie
Monday, October 9, 2017
FOLLOW THE BIG YELLOW BUS
October 9, 2017
We were very pleased when we walked off the ship this morning and found that there were free shuttles to downtown Funchal. Otherwise it was a mile plus hike or a 7.50 euro taxi ride.
Pleasant surprise number two: Funchal now has hop on hop off buses. Actually they have two companies and we chose the Big Yellow Bus. For 14 euros you could ride one of their routes and for 16 euros you could ride two routes. We, of course, picked two and saw a lot of the island from the upper level of the bus. Nice day. Nice weather. Gentle breeze.
In between buses we went slumming at McDonalds. We went in to get milkshakes and got hamburgers in addition. As unappetizing here, as back home, but a quick lunch.
And after the second ride we wandered around downtown, purchased gelattos and walked back to the shuttle. We started to get on and the driver frowned at us and shook his finger, “No. No.” How rude. So we sat on a bench, finished our gelattos and waited for another shuttle.
We are overnight here, so tomorrow we will go back into town for a little more exploring.
I’m tired tonight, so I will let Bonnie tell you about this evening’s show on the World Stage.
TTFN
HiDeHo!!
Up at 5 am and back to bed at 6:30! We docked later than expected because the port wasn’t ready for us. Finally in dock at 8:30. We didn’t get off till 10. There were 4 cruise ships in dock. Two as big or bigger than us and one slightly smaller. That means anywhere from 8,000-10,000 people. Oh wow. Had a good time riding the buses seeing a lot of the island.
The show tonight was outstanding. It is called “Frozen Planet Live” and is produced by the BBC. The ships band and its orchestra played the musical score for the film. It was incredible. It was all about the Arctic and the Antarctic. The scenery and wild life were unbelievable. If it is every on TV you need to watch it.
After the show we went up to the top on the ship in the Crow’s Nest lounge on deck 12 and played cards. The view was amazing. You could see the island and all the lights of the night. There is no curfew tonight, though the shuttles stop running at midnight. We will visit a park that is way up and overlooks the harbor tomorrow. Then, I saw a shop on up the street from there where they show how the embroidery that Madeira is famous for is hand made. I would like to see it being made. I have seen many example of it in the shops. They have beautiful hankies and sachets, and dresser scarves and much more.
Only walked 1.7 miles today have made 3 miles every other day.
Well, goodnight to you all.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
We were very pleased when we walked off the ship this morning and found that there were free shuttles to downtown Funchal. Otherwise it was a mile plus hike or a 7.50 euro taxi ride.
Pleasant surprise number two: Funchal now has hop on hop off buses. Actually they have two companies and we chose the Big Yellow Bus. For 14 euros you could ride one of their routes and for 16 euros you could ride two routes. We, of course, picked two and saw a lot of the island from the upper level of the bus. Nice day. Nice weather. Gentle breeze.
In between buses we went slumming at McDonalds. We went in to get milkshakes and got hamburgers in addition. As unappetizing here, as back home, but a quick lunch.
And after the second ride we wandered around downtown, purchased gelattos and walked back to the shuttle. We started to get on and the driver frowned at us and shook his finger, “No. No.” How rude. So we sat on a bench, finished our gelattos and waited for another shuttle.
We are overnight here, so tomorrow we will go back into town for a little more exploring.
I’m tired tonight, so I will let Bonnie tell you about this evening’s show on the World Stage.
TTFN
HiDeHo!!
Up at 5 am and back to bed at 6:30! We docked later than expected because the port wasn’t ready for us. Finally in dock at 8:30. We didn’t get off till 10. There were 4 cruise ships in dock. Two as big or bigger than us and one slightly smaller. That means anywhere from 8,000-10,000 people. Oh wow. Had a good time riding the buses seeing a lot of the island.
The show tonight was outstanding. It is called “Frozen Planet Live” and is produced by the BBC. The ships band and its orchestra played the musical score for the film. It was incredible. It was all about the Arctic and the Antarctic. The scenery and wild life were unbelievable. If it is every on TV you need to watch it.
After the show we went up to the top on the ship in the Crow’s Nest lounge on deck 12 and played cards. The view was amazing. You could see the island and all the lights of the night. There is no curfew tonight, though the shuttles stop running at midnight. We will visit a park that is way up and overlooks the harbor tomorrow. Then, I saw a shop on up the street from there where they show how the embroidery that Madeira is famous for is hand made. I would like to see it being made. I have seen many example of it in the shops. They have beautiful hankies and sachets, and dresser scarves and much more.
Only walked 1.7 miles today have made 3 miles every other day.
Well, goodnight to you all.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Sunday, October 8, 2017
A DOUBLE FEATURE
October 8, 2017
Tonight’s entertainment on the World Stage was a double feature. Sort of. The show was called “Musicality” and it featured only the Koningsdam Dancers performing as musical instruments – with costumes and lighting to match. It is without a doubt one of the best on board shows we’ve ever seen, comparable to Broadway. What made it a double feature was, we looked at each other and said, “Let’s stay and see it again!” Before the show they made an announcement not to do any still photography or video, or I would have some clips to show you (we noticed some people ignoring the instructions – but we obeyed the rules).
We ate supper tonight with two couples from Canada and had a good meal and a very enjoyable time. Today is Thanksgiving in Canada and one of the menu options was a traditional turkey dinner, of which I partook. It was good but nothing to compare with what will be spread at 233 on October 28 (in case you forgot to mark your calendars, that is the day Bonnie is doing our Thanksgiving dinner, since we will be at sea for the regular 4th Thursday of November gathering).
Today was my second talk, “Ferdinand Magellan: To the End of the World.” It was a bigger crowd than for the first one, and seemed to be well received. About a half dozen folk came up to ask questions, and that is always gratifying. Tomorrow we are in Funchal, Madeira and will be staying over night, so Captain Kidd will be featured on Wednesday.
I mentioned technical difficulties in an earlier blog and it seems as though – at least the supposition is – that the Windows 10 update which transpired automatically before we sailed messed up the drivers that make the Sony Vaio speak to the ship’s projectors. So good old Windows XP and my backup computer will be in service for the rest of the cruise. Hopefully we can get it fixed before we sail again.
We set our clocks back one hour tonight, so we will be only five hours ahead of you in the morning. I am looking forward to the extra hour’s sleep, especially since I worked on my talk – changing a number of slides – right through naptime. And since I am yawning already, I will turn the keyboard over to my cruising partner.
TTFN
Hurrah!! I finally got my headphones that Dad bought for me to work on my kindle for my walk. And Hurrah!! We had wonderful dinner companions, love those Canadians.
Well, my day started at 3am! I woke when my mask wouldn’t stay on my face correctly and was leaking air very loudly. So I got up and sat on the couch with my phone playing scrabble till about 5, then went back to bed again and slept about another hour and half. I dressed for walking while your Dad got ready, then we went to breakfast. After eating I went to deck 3 and walked a mile. Then, I returned to the cabin and showered and dressed for the day. I decided today to sit on the Lido deck out near the pool and crochet. It was very nice outside. Pretty overcast but it wasn’t hot and I enjoyed the time crocheting. Dad came up about 12 and we had lunch. I tried a Reuben from the deli today. It was okay. Their pizzas are better. After lunch I headed to the theater for the 2 pm talk. The guy doing this talk is a professor emeritus from Georgetown University in Maryland. He is very intelligent but his slides are just to much to take in. He tells you some of the stuff that is on the slide but not all of it and it is very hard to try and listen and read the slide. He also uses a vocabulary that contains many large words and terms not easily understood. He is a nice person but I don’t really enjoy his talks.
Dad’s talk was at 3 and today he was followed by Bingo! He was done right on time but the Bingo people were late getting started. Not our fault. After the talk we returned to the room to dress for supper . We thought the first show was at 8:30 so we were going to go to supper a little later but the first show was at 7:15 so we left for supper about 5:15. I had a taco type salad with turkey. It was very good. Butterscotch sundae for dessert.
Your Dad was right the show was fantastic. We really enjoyed it both times. And they have one more performance at 10pm. I don’t see how they can expend so much energy and do it 3 times in one night.
Well, bedtime even though we turned the clock back.
Note to Karen: you can send me an email to David’s email address and I will get it and can answer back. Hope you are all okay.
Thanks for the picture Mac. Granny misses you. See you in about 11 days.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Tonight’s entertainment on the World Stage was a double feature. Sort of. The show was called “Musicality” and it featured only the Koningsdam Dancers performing as musical instruments – with costumes and lighting to match. It is without a doubt one of the best on board shows we’ve ever seen, comparable to Broadway. What made it a double feature was, we looked at each other and said, “Let’s stay and see it again!” Before the show they made an announcement not to do any still photography or video, or I would have some clips to show you (we noticed some people ignoring the instructions – but we obeyed the rules).
We ate supper tonight with two couples from Canada and had a good meal and a very enjoyable time. Today is Thanksgiving in Canada and one of the menu options was a traditional turkey dinner, of which I partook. It was good but nothing to compare with what will be spread at 233 on October 28 (in case you forgot to mark your calendars, that is the day Bonnie is doing our Thanksgiving dinner, since we will be at sea for the regular 4th Thursday of November gathering).
Today was my second talk, “Ferdinand Magellan: To the End of the World.” It was a bigger crowd than for the first one, and seemed to be well received. About a half dozen folk came up to ask questions, and that is always gratifying. Tomorrow we are in Funchal, Madeira and will be staying over night, so Captain Kidd will be featured on Wednesday.
I mentioned technical difficulties in an earlier blog and it seems as though – at least the supposition is – that the Windows 10 update which transpired automatically before we sailed messed up the drivers that make the Sony Vaio speak to the ship’s projectors. So good old Windows XP and my backup computer will be in service for the rest of the cruise. Hopefully we can get it fixed before we sail again.
We set our clocks back one hour tonight, so we will be only five hours ahead of you in the morning. I am looking forward to the extra hour’s sleep, especially since I worked on my talk – changing a number of slides – right through naptime. And since I am yawning already, I will turn the keyboard over to my cruising partner.
TTFN
Hurrah!! I finally got my headphones that Dad bought for me to work on my kindle for my walk. And Hurrah!! We had wonderful dinner companions, love those Canadians.
Well, my day started at 3am! I woke when my mask wouldn’t stay on my face correctly and was leaking air very loudly. So I got up and sat on the couch with my phone playing scrabble till about 5, then went back to bed again and slept about another hour and half. I dressed for walking while your Dad got ready, then we went to breakfast. After eating I went to deck 3 and walked a mile. Then, I returned to the cabin and showered and dressed for the day. I decided today to sit on the Lido deck out near the pool and crochet. It was very nice outside. Pretty overcast but it wasn’t hot and I enjoyed the time crocheting. Dad came up about 12 and we had lunch. I tried a Reuben from the deli today. It was okay. Their pizzas are better. After lunch I headed to the theater for the 2 pm talk. The guy doing this talk is a professor emeritus from Georgetown University in Maryland. He is very intelligent but his slides are just to much to take in. He tells you some of the stuff that is on the slide but not all of it and it is very hard to try and listen and read the slide. He also uses a vocabulary that contains many large words and terms not easily understood. He is a nice person but I don’t really enjoy his talks.
Dad’s talk was at 3 and today he was followed by Bingo! He was done right on time but the Bingo people were late getting started. Not our fault. After the talk we returned to the room to dress for supper . We thought the first show was at 8:30 so we were going to go to supper a little later but the first show was at 7:15 so we left for supper about 5:15. I had a taco type salad with turkey. It was very good. Butterscotch sundae for dessert.
Your Dad was right the show was fantastic. We really enjoyed it both times. And they have one more performance at 10pm. I don’t see how they can expend so much energy and do it 3 times in one night.
Well, bedtime even though we turned the clock back.
Note to Karen: you can send me an email to David’s email address and I will get it and can answer back. Hope you are all okay.
Thanks for the picture Mac. Granny misses you. See you in about 11 days.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Saturday, October 7, 2017
CAMERA OBSCURA
October 7, 2017
It has been a strange one today fellow bloggers and bloggettes. And as they said in Smokey and the Bandit, “We’ve got a long way to go, and I’m going to type for only a short time.” Or something like that.
It was a beautiful day in Cadiz, temperatures in the 80s, very comfortable in the shade, and some breezes blowing off of the Atlantic. After breakfast we set off to find the Torre Tavira, one of the 136 remaining watch towers in the city. At one time there were 170. Merchants would build them so they could watch for their ships coming in from the New World. The tops were painted different colors so the ships’ captains would be able to aim for the proper dock. Today they are just unusual constructions on buildings. Except for the one that was our destination.
In 1993 or 94 the owners of Torre Tavira put a camera obscure on the top of the tower. This CO is an incredible visual device that focuses an image through a lense onto a conical surface (it’s like looking into the top of a very wide ice cream cone). The operator turns the lens and you get a complete 360 degree view of the city, live, in real time. You can watch buses driving down the streets, people walking through the markets, and see the sea waves lapping up on the beaches. Look for it on YouTube. There is a real nice one showing what we saw today. We tried to find it the last time we were here, and as it turned out, didn’t walk quite far enough.
Just for your learning pleasure, another type of CO is a pin hole camera. Some of us are old enough to remember taking a shoe box into a dark closet, taping a piece of unexposed picture film (you may have to explain that to the grand kids) to the inside, closing the box, and punching a small hole in one end, opposite the film. Then we took it outside, uncovered the hole, and a picture was exposed – whatever the box was pointing at. Renaissance artists used them to help their create portraits (and all of that is in one of my talks that I am not doing on this cruise).
To get to the Torre Tavira we hopped on the Hop On Hop Off bus and rode to the Cathedral of Cadiz and hopped off. The church wasn’t open yet – this is a special day in the Roman Catholic Church (I’ve heard two explanations: one in honor of the Virgin Mary, and the other in honor of Rosario, the patron saint of the city). So we went to the Torre first, did some shopping back, went into the Cathedral, and back on the bus and toured the rest of the city from the top of a double decker.
The other part of the day was me being frustrated with my backup computer. My main computer is still in the entertainment department where they were trying to configure it to work with their projectors and things in the World Stage. Yesterday’s blog and email was done on the spare. Today it wouldn’t connect to the internet. To make a long story short, I couldn’t get it to work, I took it to Guest Relations where it frustrated first Chris and the Sheila who sent me to Yan, the internet guru on board. Some how some settings were changed – I promise you I didn’t touch anything, nor did my partner. Computers do what they want to do. There really is artificial intelligence. Anyway Yan got it working through a process that my personal tech support may understand. I am trying not to touch anything but the keys on WordPerfect, and the clicks to get online.
As for tomorrow’s talk on Ferdinand Magellan I will have this computer ready, and I will have a backup on a flash drive, and if the Sony Vaio gets back to me in time, and is talking to the projectors, I will transfer the program from the flash drive to it. And you thought this was all fun and games at sea.
It is now Bonnie’s turn.
TTFN
Up-Up–Up–and–Away!!
The previous writer neglected to tell you to get to the room where the camera showed the picture you had to ascend 173 winding mesh metal steps (wide enough for only one person and you had to back up or wait for someone to pass going the other direction). They went round and round to the top of the building, where you waited then you went down one level to the camera room for a 15 minute program. It was given first in Spanish and then, the young lady would say it in English. The Spanish explanation was always about 3 times longer than our English version! [Editorial Comment – no it wasn’t] After the program it was down those same 173 steps to get outside. Also, we viewed most of the picture upside down. It was interesting and the views from the terrace on the very top of the building were great. We wandered around the small streets after the show , doing some shopping. In one plaza there was an old fashioned flea market. The streets were very crowded. There was one other cruise ship in town and as it was Saturday and a holiday, there were a lot of locals, also.
We did stop back into the church where we got off the bus and they had a large service going on inside. We have visited this church before. It is very beautiful. It was very crowded today. It is interesting because in this church the choir stands in the rear of the church around the organ behind a metal fence and sings from there. It was an all male group again today as it was the last time we were here. They sing quite beautifully.
After returning to the bus, we enjoyed the ride almost back to our ship. There are 12 stops on this bus and they stopped at 11 and said everybody off and get on another bus that had pulled up behind us because it was our drivers lunchtime. Instead of getting on the second bus we decided to walk the rest of the way. It was about ½ to 3/4 of a mile. After passing through the metal detectors, and of course being wandered, we got back on board. We went to the cabin, deposited our goodies and headed to the Lido for lunch. Again it was almost 2:30 so he headed for hotdogs ( which are Nathans all beef hotdogs). I decided to go to deck 10 and the deli/pizza and get a pizza today. Well, it should have taken about 10 minutes but it took 20. The guy who was in charge of making the pizzas they had sent in the back to make some salads that they had ran out of. So me and the 4 other people who had come up and ordered pizzas were put on the back burner. The pizzas are made from scratch. They take a ball of dough, stretch it out and put on your toppings. I ordered red sauce, pepperoni, tomatoes and of course cheese. The crust was fantastic. You get about 10 inch pizza. I devoured it all except some of the edges.
After lunch we headed to the room. Now about our room. I haven’t told you anything yet. It is a very nice room. We have a large window, a large king size bed (made by pushing two smaller beds together) and a big bathroom, for a cruise ship. The shower is fantastic! It is as big as the shower in our bathroom at 233. You can turn around in it and not swipe the wall. It has glass doors!! There is lots of cabinet space, drawers, hangers and shelves. We sent out laundry yesterday, half of what we own and hope to get it back tomorrow.
After lunch David napped and I went up to deck 3 and crocheted and listened to my book. I came back about 4:30 to take a bath and wash my hair because it was really dirty after 3 days in a hat and hot sweaty weather. Then, I rested while he went to see about the computer. We went to supper a little later. I had a cold melon soup, a salad and chicken scallopine with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Dessert was vanilla and mint ice cream. Just one comment about the 2 couples at our table, yak,yak,yak,yak, aren’t there any normal people. When David said he was a guest lecturer and was talking about history the one lady said, “I hate history”. So we said no more. It is very hard to hear in the dining room so I pretty much just sit and try to listen. There hasn’t been many opportunities to talk. Everyone at dinner has just go on, and on about there trips or jobs or whatever.
Well, tomorrow will be a lazy day. I will walk and crochet. We walked 3 miles again today.
The 3 talks are at 11, 2 and 3. I am only going to the 2 and your Dad’s at 3. Bingo is right after his talk. That is always difficult. Well, at least it isn’t art. Don’t have to get up early, so we will probably sleep to about 7 and then go to breakfast. He will come back to study and I will go crocheting.
Hey Mac studying for the test every night means you don’t have to try and cram the night before. Say thank you Momma.
Well, goodnight for now. Love you all.
Mom, Granny and Bonnie
It has been a strange one today fellow bloggers and bloggettes. And as they said in Smokey and the Bandit, “We’ve got a long way to go, and I’m going to type for only a short time.” Or something like that.
It was a beautiful day in Cadiz, temperatures in the 80s, very comfortable in the shade, and some breezes blowing off of the Atlantic. After breakfast we set off to find the Torre Tavira, one of the 136 remaining watch towers in the city. At one time there were 170. Merchants would build them so they could watch for their ships coming in from the New World. The tops were painted different colors so the ships’ captains would be able to aim for the proper dock. Today they are just unusual constructions on buildings. Except for the one that was our destination.
In 1993 or 94 the owners of Torre Tavira put a camera obscure on the top of the tower. This CO is an incredible visual device that focuses an image through a lense onto a conical surface (it’s like looking into the top of a very wide ice cream cone). The operator turns the lens and you get a complete 360 degree view of the city, live, in real time. You can watch buses driving down the streets, people walking through the markets, and see the sea waves lapping up on the beaches. Look for it on YouTube. There is a real nice one showing what we saw today. We tried to find it the last time we were here, and as it turned out, didn’t walk quite far enough.
Just for your learning pleasure, another type of CO is a pin hole camera. Some of us are old enough to remember taking a shoe box into a dark closet, taping a piece of unexposed picture film (you may have to explain that to the grand kids) to the inside, closing the box, and punching a small hole in one end, opposite the film. Then we took it outside, uncovered the hole, and a picture was exposed – whatever the box was pointing at. Renaissance artists used them to help their create portraits (and all of that is in one of my talks that I am not doing on this cruise).
To get to the Torre Tavira we hopped on the Hop On Hop Off bus and rode to the Cathedral of Cadiz and hopped off. The church wasn’t open yet – this is a special day in the Roman Catholic Church (I’ve heard two explanations: one in honor of the Virgin Mary, and the other in honor of Rosario, the patron saint of the city). So we went to the Torre first, did some shopping back, went into the Cathedral, and back on the bus and toured the rest of the city from the top of a double decker.
The other part of the day was me being frustrated with my backup computer. My main computer is still in the entertainment department where they were trying to configure it to work with their projectors and things in the World Stage. Yesterday’s blog and email was done on the spare. Today it wouldn’t connect to the internet. To make a long story short, I couldn’t get it to work, I took it to Guest Relations where it frustrated first Chris and the Sheila who sent me to Yan, the internet guru on board. Some how some settings were changed – I promise you I didn’t touch anything, nor did my partner. Computers do what they want to do. There really is artificial intelligence. Anyway Yan got it working through a process that my personal tech support may understand. I am trying not to touch anything but the keys on WordPerfect, and the clicks to get online.
As for tomorrow’s talk on Ferdinand Magellan I will have this computer ready, and I will have a backup on a flash drive, and if the Sony Vaio gets back to me in time, and is talking to the projectors, I will transfer the program from the flash drive to it. And you thought this was all fun and games at sea.
It is now Bonnie’s turn.
TTFN
Up-Up–Up–and–Away!!
The previous writer neglected to tell you to get to the room where the camera showed the picture you had to ascend 173 winding mesh metal steps (wide enough for only one person and you had to back up or wait for someone to pass going the other direction). They went round and round to the top of the building, where you waited then you went down one level to the camera room for a 15 minute program. It was given first in Spanish and then, the young lady would say it in English. The Spanish explanation was always about 3 times longer than our English version! [Editorial Comment – no it wasn’t] After the program it was down those same 173 steps to get outside. Also, we viewed most of the picture upside down. It was interesting and the views from the terrace on the very top of the building were great. We wandered around the small streets after the show , doing some shopping. In one plaza there was an old fashioned flea market. The streets were very crowded. There was one other cruise ship in town and as it was Saturday and a holiday, there were a lot of locals, also.
We did stop back into the church where we got off the bus and they had a large service going on inside. We have visited this church before. It is very beautiful. It was very crowded today. It is interesting because in this church the choir stands in the rear of the church around the organ behind a metal fence and sings from there. It was an all male group again today as it was the last time we were here. They sing quite beautifully.
After returning to the bus, we enjoyed the ride almost back to our ship. There are 12 stops on this bus and they stopped at 11 and said everybody off and get on another bus that had pulled up behind us because it was our drivers lunchtime. Instead of getting on the second bus we decided to walk the rest of the way. It was about ½ to 3/4 of a mile. After passing through the metal detectors, and of course being wandered, we got back on board. We went to the cabin, deposited our goodies and headed to the Lido for lunch. Again it was almost 2:30 so he headed for hotdogs ( which are Nathans all beef hotdogs). I decided to go to deck 10 and the deli/pizza and get a pizza today. Well, it should have taken about 10 minutes but it took 20. The guy who was in charge of making the pizzas they had sent in the back to make some salads that they had ran out of. So me and the 4 other people who had come up and ordered pizzas were put on the back burner. The pizzas are made from scratch. They take a ball of dough, stretch it out and put on your toppings. I ordered red sauce, pepperoni, tomatoes and of course cheese. The crust was fantastic. You get about 10 inch pizza. I devoured it all except some of the edges.
After lunch we headed to the room. Now about our room. I haven’t told you anything yet. It is a very nice room. We have a large window, a large king size bed (made by pushing two smaller beds together) and a big bathroom, for a cruise ship. The shower is fantastic! It is as big as the shower in our bathroom at 233. You can turn around in it and not swipe the wall. It has glass doors!! There is lots of cabinet space, drawers, hangers and shelves. We sent out laundry yesterday, half of what we own and hope to get it back tomorrow.
After lunch David napped and I went up to deck 3 and crocheted and listened to my book. I came back about 4:30 to take a bath and wash my hair because it was really dirty after 3 days in a hat and hot sweaty weather. Then, I rested while he went to see about the computer. We went to supper a little later. I had a cold melon soup, a salad and chicken scallopine with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Dessert was vanilla and mint ice cream. Just one comment about the 2 couples at our table, yak,yak,yak,yak, aren’t there any normal people. When David said he was a guest lecturer and was talking about history the one lady said, “I hate history”. So we said no more. It is very hard to hear in the dining room so I pretty much just sit and try to listen. There hasn’t been many opportunities to talk. Everyone at dinner has just go on, and on about there trips or jobs or whatever.
Well, tomorrow will be a lazy day. I will walk and crochet. We walked 3 miles again today.
The 3 talks are at 11, 2 and 3. I am only going to the 2 and your Dad’s at 3. Bingo is right after his talk. That is always difficult. Well, at least it isn’t art. Don’t have to get up early, so we will probably sleep to about 7 and then go to breakfast. He will come back to study and I will go crocheting.
Hey Mac studying for the test every night means you don’t have to try and cram the night before. Say thank you Momma.
Well, goodnight for now. Love you all.
Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Friday, October 6, 2017
ROUND AND ROUND SHE GOES
October 6, 2017
This was our third visit to Malaga, a great city on the Costa del Sol, the Sun Coast, of Spain. This is Pablo Picasso’s home town and there is a good museum of his works that we’ve seen. Also a fantastic Arab castle called Alcazaba. And a Roman Theater. And a beautiful cathedral. We went to the cathedral again, but we wandered away from the tourist center with our goal as the city’s market. Those of you who have been to Russia and have gone to the Rynok know the flavor. It is all under roof and stall after stall of fruits, vegetables, meats (divided into sections of beef and pork), sea food, candies and nuts. Just an incredible array of sights and smells (we knew when we were approaching the fresh fish section). And it is all beautifully arranged – it would make a Wal-Mart Produce Manager proud! We bought rojo and negro licorice (a half pound of each) and one Fuji apple. Then we were in and out of souvenier stores, wandering up and down streets until finally we turned for home.
Each time we’ve been here we’ve seen “the largest ferris wheel in Europe,” but never had the time or took the time to go. This time we planned for it, paid our six euros each and got on board a giant ferris wheel. Passengers are put aboard in their own private groups. We did the first loop looking where we were going and the second time looking where we had been and returned to our original starting positions. It took 15 minutes to make the three revolutions so it was a smooth ride.
I took some good pictures in both the market and the city from the Princess (that’s the name of the ferris wheel – it has a first name that starts with an “M” but I didn’t write it down, so I don’t remember what it stands for – feel free to Google it).
A good table for supper tonght, so we will be able to eat at a shared table at least one more night. One couple was slightly annoying as they said they needed to make the 7:15 show and could they please hurry up the service – it took them over two hours last night to eat and they missed the show. Well, kiddies, they put each show in the World Theater on 3 times a night, so you could have gone to the 8:30. Tonight’s entertainer was Maioki Mori (both “M”s but not the name of the Princess), a classical pianist and wow can she play! The stage is set with overhead cameras and projected onto giant digital screens so we could watch the blur that was her hands. It would be worth a look at YouTube to see if she is there. I thought about the stamina it takes to play one 40 minute set, let alone 3 in the same evening.
We are going to play a few hands of cards after Bonnie blogs, so I will turn it over to her and see you from Cadiz tomorrow.
TTFN
Up and out to breakfast by 9. There was a cargo type ship that was docking next to the side of our ship as we were getting dressed. When we returned from going ashore it was up against
the ship. It was either loading something onto the ship or doing some work on it. Kind of cool to watch him move in along side of us this morning. Breakfast was crowded this morning but we found a nice table to share with a welcoming and friendly couple. Some nice conversation. I had an, egg and fruit for breakfast. Then, back to the room to collect our bag, ids, euros, hats and stuff. Then, out the gangway on deck two. There was a shuttle because the walk was 2 or 3 miles to town. The cost was only 4 euros each, not 5 as the cruise director said yesterday, and well worth it. We have walked 3 + miles everyday so far on our excursions on and off the ship. We wandered around the streets remembering some of the sights from our last visits and seeing some new things. We wandered in and out of the souvenier shops buying stuff here and there. I bought a new backpack for going ashore as my pirate bag is getting very worn. We will use it tomorrow on our trip out.
The ride on the ferris wheel , called Princess, is touted as being the largest in Europe. It moves much faster then the London Eye but slow enough so you can see everything. It was a beautiful clear day in the high 80's but not really hot. It stopped one time and we were at the very top. The gondolas are all air conditioned and large enough to hold 6 people. The fifteen minute ride was great fun.
Well, after 4 hours of wandering we found our shuttle and rode back. Oh course I was wanded again as I went through security. We didn’t get back on until after 2:30 so the Lido was closed. We went to the Dive in for a hamburger and a hot dog. No ice cream because it was closed , too. Sadness. Back to the room for a time to list my purchases for customs when we get back and take a nap.
We got dressed and left for supper about 5:30. It was a table for 6 this evening. One couple from NC and the wife in her previous marriage (she and her husband had both been previously married, I think the spouses had died) had lived in Cleveland Tenn in 1972 and had a baby at Bradley Memorial Hospital, where Mike and Matt were born in 1976. We traded stories. The other couple had also been in Tenn at some time, also. It was an enjoyable table though the first woman was a little much.
For supper, I had ziti with sausage and unfortunately a huge amount of cooked spinach, which I did not eat. Dessert was a cherries jubilee sundae, quite tasty. Then off to the show. The music was a little heavy but the concert pianist was good. We stopped in at the Billboard lounge to listen to Beatle music and that era songs. The couple were playing pianos that were facing each other, and they were very good. They had been in the waiting area trying to get on the ship when we were trying to get on. They were singing tonight and playing. Quite good.
Well, we are back in our room and soon off to bed. It is Cadiz tomorrow and more exploring. Love you all. Miss you.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
This was our third visit to Malaga, a great city on the Costa del Sol, the Sun Coast, of Spain. This is Pablo Picasso’s home town and there is a good museum of his works that we’ve seen. Also a fantastic Arab castle called Alcazaba. And a Roman Theater. And a beautiful cathedral. We went to the cathedral again, but we wandered away from the tourist center with our goal as the city’s market. Those of you who have been to Russia and have gone to the Rynok know the flavor. It is all under roof and stall after stall of fruits, vegetables, meats (divided into sections of beef and pork), sea food, candies and nuts. Just an incredible array of sights and smells (we knew when we were approaching the fresh fish section). And it is all beautifully arranged – it would make a Wal-Mart Produce Manager proud! We bought rojo and negro licorice (a half pound of each) and one Fuji apple. Then we were in and out of souvenier stores, wandering up and down streets until finally we turned for home.
Each time we’ve been here we’ve seen “the largest ferris wheel in Europe,” but never had the time or took the time to go. This time we planned for it, paid our six euros each and got on board a giant ferris wheel. Passengers are put aboard in their own private groups. We did the first loop looking where we were going and the second time looking where we had been and returned to our original starting positions. It took 15 minutes to make the three revolutions so it was a smooth ride.
I took some good pictures in both the market and the city from the Princess (that’s the name of the ferris wheel – it has a first name that starts with an “M” but I didn’t write it down, so I don’t remember what it stands for – feel free to Google it).
A good table for supper tonght, so we will be able to eat at a shared table at least one more night. One couple was slightly annoying as they said they needed to make the 7:15 show and could they please hurry up the service – it took them over two hours last night to eat and they missed the show. Well, kiddies, they put each show in the World Theater on 3 times a night, so you could have gone to the 8:30. Tonight’s entertainer was Maioki Mori (both “M”s but not the name of the Princess), a classical pianist and wow can she play! The stage is set with overhead cameras and projected onto giant digital screens so we could watch the blur that was her hands. It would be worth a look at YouTube to see if she is there. I thought about the stamina it takes to play one 40 minute set, let alone 3 in the same evening.
We are going to play a few hands of cards after Bonnie blogs, so I will turn it over to her and see you from Cadiz tomorrow.
TTFN
Up and out to breakfast by 9. There was a cargo type ship that was docking next to the side of our ship as we were getting dressed. When we returned from going ashore it was up against
the ship. It was either loading something onto the ship or doing some work on it. Kind of cool to watch him move in along side of us this morning. Breakfast was crowded this morning but we found a nice table to share with a welcoming and friendly couple. Some nice conversation. I had an, egg and fruit for breakfast. Then, back to the room to collect our bag, ids, euros, hats and stuff. Then, out the gangway on deck two. There was a shuttle because the walk was 2 or 3 miles to town. The cost was only 4 euros each, not 5 as the cruise director said yesterday, and well worth it. We have walked 3 + miles everyday so far on our excursions on and off the ship. We wandered around the streets remembering some of the sights from our last visits and seeing some new things. We wandered in and out of the souvenier shops buying stuff here and there. I bought a new backpack for going ashore as my pirate bag is getting very worn. We will use it tomorrow on our trip out.
The ride on the ferris wheel , called Princess, is touted as being the largest in Europe. It moves much faster then the London Eye but slow enough so you can see everything. It was a beautiful clear day in the high 80's but not really hot. It stopped one time and we were at the very top. The gondolas are all air conditioned and large enough to hold 6 people. The fifteen minute ride was great fun.
Well, after 4 hours of wandering we found our shuttle and rode back. Oh course I was wanded again as I went through security. We didn’t get back on until after 2:30 so the Lido was closed. We went to the Dive in for a hamburger and a hot dog. No ice cream because it was closed , too. Sadness. Back to the room for a time to list my purchases for customs when we get back and take a nap.
We got dressed and left for supper about 5:30. It was a table for 6 this evening. One couple from NC and the wife in her previous marriage (she and her husband had both been previously married, I think the spouses had died) had lived in Cleveland Tenn in 1972 and had a baby at Bradley Memorial Hospital, where Mike and Matt were born in 1976. We traded stories. The other couple had also been in Tenn at some time, also. It was an enjoyable table though the first woman was a little much.
For supper, I had ziti with sausage and unfortunately a huge amount of cooked spinach, which I did not eat. Dessert was a cherries jubilee sundae, quite tasty. Then off to the show. The music was a little heavy but the concert pianist was good. We stopped in at the Billboard lounge to listen to Beatle music and that era songs. The couple were playing pianos that were facing each other, and they were very good. They had been in the waiting area trying to get on the ship when we were trying to get on. They were singing tonight and playing. Quite good.
Well, we are back in our room and soon off to bed. It is Cadiz tomorrow and more exploring. Love you all. Miss you.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Thursday, October 5, 2017
ARE THERE NO NORMAL PEOPLE ON THIS SHIP?
October 5, 2017
Alicante, Spain was a nice stop. We were only in port from 8 to 3:30, and we stayed off from 9:30 until 1. A world record for us. It is an easy city go get around in, at least to see what I had picked our for our excursion.
We went to an incredible fortress called the Castle of Santa Barbara. It is on a hill/mountain over 400 feet high with incredible defenses and walk ways carved from the solid rock. It is hard to imagine all of that work being done by hand labor. There were some incredible views of the city and the Mediterranean Sea. I took about 100 pictures and will include some in the blog closer when I get home. They will of course be available for this year’s cruise calendar.
We then went to the Basilica of Santa Maria and the Cathedral of St. Nicholas (no relation to the December 25th guy that I know of). We got to the Basilica about 11:30 and there was a mass scheduled to begin at noon. When they do a service, they stop the tours. A walking tour from the ship arrived there about 10 till 12 and I heard the guide apologize to the walkers that they would have to slip in and out quickly. I don’t know how to describe it, but there was a huge silver platform with posts around the side which held up a covering. Very ornately decorated. We guessed that it is used in the Good Friday procession as a place for the Virgin Mary. There is a life-size statue of her in front of the pulpit that we guessed is carried in her “carriage.” It was a beautiful place of worship. St. Nicholas featured two huge brass doors with ornate work. These were not the place for ingress and egress however. A rather ordinary, but large wood door, around the side gave us admission.
Well, to the title of tonight’s blog. We ate with Wayne and Barbara who have not only been there and done that – he was a speaker for Holland American and a genius programmer for IBM who worked on Watson and sailed with numerous movie stars and retired and stopped doing guest speaking because they preferred to pay for their cruises so they could earn all the perks and have better staterooms. Bonnie said, “If we sit with people like that tomorrow night we are having a table for two for the rest of the cruise.” I rather enjoyed it. I kept asking leading questions so they could ship the bull. If was quite funny and they never caught on. They liked talking about themselves. Ptweeetttttt!
Well, it’s Bon’s turn so ...
TTFN
umph! I was awake before him and played on my phone till he awoke. Then we showered, dressed and went to breakfast. I had fruit and a chocolate muffin with OJ. He took a couple of pictures off the front of the Lido deck before we went down and collected our stuff. We took our drivers license for photo ID because the Holland America cruise line always keeps our passports because we are part of the crew. I guess they think we are going to jump ship when we are in port. I don’t like it but I tolerate it.
We rode a free shuttle into the edge of the dock( tomorrow the shuttle costs 5 euros each round trip) and walked up to the town. About a 5-10 minute walk. We stopped at a small kiosk so I could buy a paper, 3.20 Euros, and asked how to get to the castle at the top of the mountain. She said there was an elevator to the right down the street. So off we went. We found the line for the elevator and cued up. It took about 15 minutes to get to the head of the line. There stood a lady waiting to sell us tickets to ride the elevator. I had noticed a sign outside that said people over 65 rode free. So we showed our drivers license and the date of our birth and she sent us on down a LONG tunnel to the elevator. We walked and cued up at the elevator door. Now you know I don’t like elevators and the idea of riding one traveling through solid rock to the top of a mountain was not my idea of fun. But I got on when it was our turn and rode it up. It was a long ride! On top the view was well worth the ride. I even found a cannon for Mac. We enjoyed our walk around though it was extremely rocky and at times very steep walking. After looking at most of the fort we headed back to the elevator to ride down. Just as scarey.
When back on the street we headed to the churches, stopping in several small shops to buy a couple of souvenirs. I even bought a new t-shirt, which I don’t need, but it had a picture of the fort on it. After the churches , which both had huge pipe organs and they were very beautiful and ornate, we headed back to the ship. Your Dad stopped and bought a gelato cone of vanilla with pralines and caramel. I did not. We found the shuttle and rode back. Oh course to get on the ship you have to go through a metal detector and of course I had to be wand and patted down.
After getting on the ship we headed up top for lunch. He had bunless hot dogs and I had a “spicy chicken salad” sandwich. Only it wasn’t chicken salad. It was sliced chicken with avocado on it. Yuck. I took off the avocado added mayo and ate it. It was good. Then I had an ice cream cone. We went back to the room and napped intermittently for me. The captain came on about 3:30 talking about the trip to our next port and woke me from my nap, so I decided to go out quietly and watch sail away. It was fun. Some lady came nonchalantly on board at 3:50 ( all aboard was 3:30) and then we were able to sail away. I got to watch the pilot leave our ship and jump onto the pilot ship as we sailed out into the ocean. Very cool. It was right below where I was standing.
Then I went back to the cabin where he was awake, having been woken by the guest relations desk calling for the lady who was the last person on board. We dressed for dinner and headed off for dinner, unfortunately with a couple who talked and talked and talked. Anything you did they had done it better and sooner. Oh well!
Since the man had 2 entrees and we had to wait till he finished the second one, which he said was overcooked fish and undercooked rice, until we could get dessert we missed the first show and had to wait for the second one at 8:30. I, by the way, had half a chicken! And a baked potato for supper and a hot fudge sundae for dessert. Very tasty.
The show was a British comedian and he was very, very good. Really enjoy the show. Well, he is tired and going to sleep so I have to go. We are headed to Malaga tomorrow.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Alicante, Spain was a nice stop. We were only in port from 8 to 3:30, and we stayed off from 9:30 until 1. A world record for us. It is an easy city go get around in, at least to see what I had picked our for our excursion.
We went to an incredible fortress called the Castle of Santa Barbara. It is on a hill/mountain over 400 feet high with incredible defenses and walk ways carved from the solid rock. It is hard to imagine all of that work being done by hand labor. There were some incredible views of the city and the Mediterranean Sea. I took about 100 pictures and will include some in the blog closer when I get home. They will of course be available for this year’s cruise calendar.
We then went to the Basilica of Santa Maria and the Cathedral of St. Nicholas (no relation to the December 25th guy that I know of). We got to the Basilica about 11:30 and there was a mass scheduled to begin at noon. When they do a service, they stop the tours. A walking tour from the ship arrived there about 10 till 12 and I heard the guide apologize to the walkers that they would have to slip in and out quickly. I don’t know how to describe it, but there was a huge silver platform with posts around the side which held up a covering. Very ornately decorated. We guessed that it is used in the Good Friday procession as a place for the Virgin Mary. There is a life-size statue of her in front of the pulpit that we guessed is carried in her “carriage.” It was a beautiful place of worship. St. Nicholas featured two huge brass doors with ornate work. These were not the place for ingress and egress however. A rather ordinary, but large wood door, around the side gave us admission.
Well, to the title of tonight’s blog. We ate with Wayne and Barbara who have not only been there and done that – he was a speaker for Holland American and a genius programmer for IBM who worked on Watson and sailed with numerous movie stars and retired and stopped doing guest speaking because they preferred to pay for their cruises so they could earn all the perks and have better staterooms. Bonnie said, “If we sit with people like that tomorrow night we are having a table for two for the rest of the cruise.” I rather enjoyed it. I kept asking leading questions so they could ship the bull. If was quite funny and they never caught on. They liked talking about themselves. Ptweeetttttt!
Well, it’s Bon’s turn so ...
TTFN
umph! I was awake before him and played on my phone till he awoke. Then we showered, dressed and went to breakfast. I had fruit and a chocolate muffin with OJ. He took a couple of pictures off the front of the Lido deck before we went down and collected our stuff. We took our drivers license for photo ID because the Holland America cruise line always keeps our passports because we are part of the crew. I guess they think we are going to jump ship when we are in port. I don’t like it but I tolerate it.
We rode a free shuttle into the edge of the dock( tomorrow the shuttle costs 5 euros each round trip) and walked up to the town. About a 5-10 minute walk. We stopped at a small kiosk so I could buy a paper, 3.20 Euros, and asked how to get to the castle at the top of the mountain. She said there was an elevator to the right down the street. So off we went. We found the line for the elevator and cued up. It took about 15 minutes to get to the head of the line. There stood a lady waiting to sell us tickets to ride the elevator. I had noticed a sign outside that said people over 65 rode free. So we showed our drivers license and the date of our birth and she sent us on down a LONG tunnel to the elevator. We walked and cued up at the elevator door. Now you know I don’t like elevators and the idea of riding one traveling through solid rock to the top of a mountain was not my idea of fun. But I got on when it was our turn and rode it up. It was a long ride! On top the view was well worth the ride. I even found a cannon for Mac. We enjoyed our walk around though it was extremely rocky and at times very steep walking. After looking at most of the fort we headed back to the elevator to ride down. Just as scarey.
When back on the street we headed to the churches, stopping in several small shops to buy a couple of souvenirs. I even bought a new t-shirt, which I don’t need, but it had a picture of the fort on it. After the churches , which both had huge pipe organs and they were very beautiful and ornate, we headed back to the ship. Your Dad stopped and bought a gelato cone of vanilla with pralines and caramel. I did not. We found the shuttle and rode back. Oh course to get on the ship you have to go through a metal detector and of course I had to be wand and patted down.
After getting on the ship we headed up top for lunch. He had bunless hot dogs and I had a “spicy chicken salad” sandwich. Only it wasn’t chicken salad. It was sliced chicken with avocado on it. Yuck. I took off the avocado added mayo and ate it. It was good. Then I had an ice cream cone. We went back to the room and napped intermittently for me. The captain came on about 3:30 talking about the trip to our next port and woke me from my nap, so I decided to go out quietly and watch sail away. It was fun. Some lady came nonchalantly on board at 3:50 ( all aboard was 3:30) and then we were able to sail away. I got to watch the pilot leave our ship and jump onto the pilot ship as we sailed out into the ocean. Very cool. It was right below where I was standing.
Then I went back to the cabin where he was awake, having been woken by the guest relations desk calling for the lady who was the last person on board. We dressed for dinner and headed off for dinner, unfortunately with a couple who talked and talked and talked. Anything you did they had done it better and sooner. Oh well!
Since the man had 2 entrees and we had to wait till he finished the second one, which he said was overcooked fish and undercooked rice, until we could get dessert we missed the first show and had to wait for the second one at 8:30. I, by the way, had half a chicken! And a baked potato for supper and a hot fudge sundae for dessert. Very tasty.
The show was a British comedian and he was very, very good. Really enjoy the show. Well, he is tired and going to sleep so I have to go. We are headed to Malaga tomorrow.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
BELT AND SUSPENDERS
October 4, 2017
Some of you may ask, “David, why do you travel with two computers and 3 flash drives?” I would answer you, “It is belt and suspenders!” And today I needed it.
To start with, I left our stateroom and went the wrong way to the “World Theater” where I do my talks. It is the main theater on the Koningsdam and a great place in which to perform. There are lots of lights and gadgets that are used in the main shows, and for my talks, and those of the other two lecturers, our PowerPoints are projected onto three gigantic screens around and behind us.
Wandering down the corridor, with the theater no closer than when I began, I asked a crewman, “Is this the way?” It was not, so I turned around. Arriving, I slipped in quietly and took a seat because the second speaker was winding up his talk. Then Wesley, one of the technicians, came up to me and said, “It is good to see you again. We sailed together on the Westerdam.” He really did look familiar, but if he hadn’t put it together, I’d’ve been none the wiser.
And here is where the belt and suspenders came in. My computer wouldn’t talk to their system. We tried HDMI and VGA (ask technical support) but neither worked. We restarted the computer, but Control-Alt-Delete didn’t work. There wasn’t time to go back to the stateroom and get my backup computer, so I pulled out a flash drive, gave it to Wesley who hustled it up to the control room. They plugged it into their computer, brought me down a clicker and we were off. A little late, but off. Those of you who are saying, “He’s frequently a little off,” PTWEEETTTTTT!
Jamie, the head of the entertainment technical crew, said there is a setting we’re missing and I’m going to give them the Sony Viao tomorrow while we are ashore in Alicante, Spain to play with. And Friday when I do my next talk, I’ll have the spare computer on hand. A country boy can survive – and my brother, do it without a Mac (computer, not Herrington).
Tonight was formal night and we looked great. We shared a table for supper with 4 other folks, two of whom you’d enjoying eating with again, and two who, if you’ve done it – they’ve done it at least twice. I listened to their stories from Japan until I could stand it no longer, and told a couple of Russia stories. Don’t you know! They’ve been there and done that, too. Well, they took one Volga River cruise past Samara. I don’t think that tops MIR Children’s Foundation!
My appetizer tonight was one of my favorites – escargot, but I was disappointed. They brought me snails instead. My entre was beef tenderloin, medium rare. And my dessert was – Amy, can you guess it? Creme brulee. A great meal.
And tonight’s show was “Billboard’s Top Songs of the Last 50 Years.” Lots of good music ending with the Beatles. I will tell you no more. My fellow blogger may wish to add some details there, and I’m sure she will share her menu. So, hereeeee’s Bonnie!
TTFN
UGGGH!!! I won’t tell you about getting on the ship because it was over 3 hours of misery. So ask me another time. Now to today. I woke up and it was 7:15 and I let him sleep a few more minutes. I had taken a sleeping pill because I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to sleep after all the aggravation yesterday. We got up. He showered and got ready but I did not shower because I wanted to walk after breakfast. Since his talks aren’t until 4 every day, we have breakfast together and then he studies and I go walk then come back and take my shower. Well, this morning before we left for breakfast, when I flushed the commode I noticed water leaking onto the floor under the commode. I told him and we left a note for our cabin steward when went for breakfast. After breakfast I went walking on deck 10 and he returned to the cabin. (I have walked a total of 3.1 miles today.) After my walk I returned to the cabin to shower but there were two men working on the commode, so I took my crocheting and headed up stairs to get some water and ice and waste some time. After a while I returned and they had left or were leaving and I was able to shower. I then, headed back up to crochet some more while he studied. He came up and got me about 12:30 and we had lunch at the Dive In, hamburgers, hot dogs and fries. Very good.
After lunch I headed to the theater to get a seat for the lectures. They said that it was very crowded and you couldn’t get seats. They lied! The first talk was about the first naval battle of WWI, it was so-so. To many slides with lots of words. The second lecture was on medical and scientific discoveries in the 1900. Again, way too many slides with words and words to read. Neither speaker was as expressive or entertaining as your Dad. Then, 4pm finally arrived and it was his turn. And, wait for it, the adventure continues. If it can go wrong it probably will, Eyeore says. Oh well, he was about 15 minutes late starting but he got finished and several people came up to me and said they really enjoyed the talk. Ah, the groupies begin!
His talk ended about 5 and we headed back to the room to dress for formal night. We got to supper about 5:30. The table was nice but I don’t want to sit with the one couple ever again. The wife talked nonstop!! I had pineapple appetizer, artichoke and carrot soup, stuffed ravioli and strawberries for dessert. All good.
Then, tonight was supposed to be a thing with meeting the officers of the ship up around the pool on the Lido deck, free champagne, at 7:15. Well at 8:05 we left to go to the show. The Captain and his gang were no shows. Plenty of champagne, we had OJ, but no captain. Got good seats for the show and enjoyed it all.
Well, he said it is after 10, so we should go to bed. So I will say goodnight to you all.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Some of you may ask, “David, why do you travel with two computers and 3 flash drives?” I would answer you, “It is belt and suspenders!” And today I needed it.
To start with, I left our stateroom and went the wrong way to the “World Theater” where I do my talks. It is the main theater on the Koningsdam and a great place in which to perform. There are lots of lights and gadgets that are used in the main shows, and for my talks, and those of the other two lecturers, our PowerPoints are projected onto three gigantic screens around and behind us.
Wandering down the corridor, with the theater no closer than when I began, I asked a crewman, “Is this the way?” It was not, so I turned around. Arriving, I slipped in quietly and took a seat because the second speaker was winding up his talk. Then Wesley, one of the technicians, came up to me and said, “It is good to see you again. We sailed together on the Westerdam.” He really did look familiar, but if he hadn’t put it together, I’d’ve been none the wiser.
And here is where the belt and suspenders came in. My computer wouldn’t talk to their system. We tried HDMI and VGA (ask technical support) but neither worked. We restarted the computer, but Control-Alt-Delete didn’t work. There wasn’t time to go back to the stateroom and get my backup computer, so I pulled out a flash drive, gave it to Wesley who hustled it up to the control room. They plugged it into their computer, brought me down a clicker and we were off. A little late, but off. Those of you who are saying, “He’s frequently a little off,” PTWEEETTTTTT!
Jamie, the head of the entertainment technical crew, said there is a setting we’re missing and I’m going to give them the Sony Viao tomorrow while we are ashore in Alicante, Spain to play with. And Friday when I do my next talk, I’ll have the spare computer on hand. A country boy can survive – and my brother, do it without a Mac (computer, not Herrington).
Tonight was formal night and we looked great. We shared a table for supper with 4 other folks, two of whom you’d enjoying eating with again, and two who, if you’ve done it – they’ve done it at least twice. I listened to their stories from Japan until I could stand it no longer, and told a couple of Russia stories. Don’t you know! They’ve been there and done that, too. Well, they took one Volga River cruise past Samara. I don’t think that tops MIR Children’s Foundation!
My appetizer tonight was one of my favorites – escargot, but I was disappointed. They brought me snails instead. My entre was beef tenderloin, medium rare. And my dessert was – Amy, can you guess it? Creme brulee. A great meal.
And tonight’s show was “Billboard’s Top Songs of the Last 50 Years.” Lots of good music ending with the Beatles. I will tell you no more. My fellow blogger may wish to add some details there, and I’m sure she will share her menu. So, hereeeee’s Bonnie!
TTFN
UGGGH!!! I won’t tell you about getting on the ship because it was over 3 hours of misery. So ask me another time. Now to today. I woke up and it was 7:15 and I let him sleep a few more minutes. I had taken a sleeping pill because I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to sleep after all the aggravation yesterday. We got up. He showered and got ready but I did not shower because I wanted to walk after breakfast. Since his talks aren’t until 4 every day, we have breakfast together and then he studies and I go walk then come back and take my shower. Well, this morning before we left for breakfast, when I flushed the commode I noticed water leaking onto the floor under the commode. I told him and we left a note for our cabin steward when went for breakfast. After breakfast I went walking on deck 10 and he returned to the cabin. (I have walked a total of 3.1 miles today.) After my walk I returned to the cabin to shower but there were two men working on the commode, so I took my crocheting and headed up stairs to get some water and ice and waste some time. After a while I returned and they had left or were leaving and I was able to shower. I then, headed back up to crochet some more while he studied. He came up and got me about 12:30 and we had lunch at the Dive In, hamburgers, hot dogs and fries. Very good.
After lunch I headed to the theater to get a seat for the lectures. They said that it was very crowded and you couldn’t get seats. They lied! The first talk was about the first naval battle of WWI, it was so-so. To many slides with lots of words. The second lecture was on medical and scientific discoveries in the 1900. Again, way too many slides with words and words to read. Neither speaker was as expressive or entertaining as your Dad. Then, 4pm finally arrived and it was his turn. And, wait for it, the adventure continues. If it can go wrong it probably will, Eyeore says. Oh well, he was about 15 minutes late starting but he got finished and several people came up to me and said they really enjoyed the talk. Ah, the groupies begin!
His talk ended about 5 and we headed back to the room to dress for formal night. We got to supper about 5:30. The table was nice but I don’t want to sit with the one couple ever again. The wife talked nonstop!! I had pineapple appetizer, artichoke and carrot soup, stuffed ravioli and strawberries for dessert. All good.
Then, tonight was supposed to be a thing with meeting the officers of the ship up around the pool on the Lido deck, free champagne, at 7:15. Well at 8:05 we left to go to the show. The Captain and his gang were no shows. Plenty of champagne, we had OJ, but no captain. Got good seats for the show and enjoyed it all.
Well, he said it is after 10, so we should go to bed. So I will say goodnight to you all.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
AT SEA, FINALLY!
October 3, 2017
To explain today’s title will take longer to tell you than I wish to stay awake tonight (it’s 10:02 p.m. ship’s time) and more energy than I have left, but let me give you just a taste.
(Don't raise your hand if you've heard this :-))
We left Saturday evening around 7 p.m. from Savannah for JFK, having been chauffeured by Mike and Ivy Coach Services.
Upgraded to better seats, smooth flight, on time arrival and departure for Lisbon. Then a few bumps here and there in the air. Supper was served at 1 a.m. Augusta time. The beef was tough and luke warm, but it filled the void. Landed a few minutes early, and headed for passport control to catch our flight to Rome which would go in 75 minutes. The passport control line was 120 minutes long, might have been longer, so we missed our flight. TAP Portugal put us on the next flight and we got to Rome around 7:30 p.m. local time. We had reserved a drive for 4:30 p.m. local time, cancelled that at 12:30 p.m when we realized we weren’t going to make it, asked the company to book us another, and when I turned my cell phone on in Rome, there was an email saying no driver was available.
We hired a taxi and got to our guest house around 9 p.m., met Stephano, our host, who took us to our room, helped us with our luggage, and departed. We walked next door to a restaurant, ate great pizza and went back to our room and went to bed.
A great day touring Rome took place, and I’ll tell you about it later.
10:30 this morning we were picked up on schedule by private taxi and taken to Civitavecchia and dropped off at the ship before noon. Here’s where the “I’m too tired to tell you” comes in, but suffice it to say that we were listed not as David and Bonnie Sisler, but as Guest Speaker and Guest Speaker – actually they didn’t have her, only me. There are two other guest speakers on board this cruise, all of whom were listed as Guest Speaker, and a Catholic priest, also named Guest Speaker. We finally got on board after 2 p.m., and rushed to lunch before the 3 p.m. lifeboat drill.
Once on board I discovered that Guest Services didn’t have any idea how my talks were scheduled or when or where. Around 7 p.m. tonight I found that out (usually there is a letter and a schedule waiting in our room – which by the way is great: the best stateroom we’ve had). I am on tomorrow with “Alexander Selkirk: The Real Robinson Crusoe” at 4 p.m. And I know the rest of my times and the order of my talks. Yippee!
Ate supper tonight – great steak – with Father Karl, the Catholic priest. We discussed Vatican II and the upcoming Methodist schism.
The welcome aboard show was very good, and now we are back in our room, ready for a good night’s sleep and a nice breakfast in the dining room tomorrow.
I promise better stuff in the days ahead, and my companion said she would add to upcoming blogs as well.
Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts sent out way.
TTFN
To explain today’s title will take longer to tell you than I wish to stay awake tonight (it’s 10:02 p.m. ship’s time) and more energy than I have left, but let me give you just a taste.
(Don't raise your hand if you've heard this :-))
We left Saturday evening around 7 p.m. from Savannah for JFK, having been chauffeured by Mike and Ivy Coach Services.
Upgraded to better seats, smooth flight, on time arrival and departure for Lisbon. Then a few bumps here and there in the air. Supper was served at 1 a.m. Augusta time. The beef was tough and luke warm, but it filled the void. Landed a few minutes early, and headed for passport control to catch our flight to Rome which would go in 75 minutes. The passport control line was 120 minutes long, might have been longer, so we missed our flight. TAP Portugal put us on the next flight and we got to Rome around 7:30 p.m. local time. We had reserved a drive for 4:30 p.m. local time, cancelled that at 12:30 p.m when we realized we weren’t going to make it, asked the company to book us another, and when I turned my cell phone on in Rome, there was an email saying no driver was available.
We hired a taxi and got to our guest house around 9 p.m., met Stephano, our host, who took us to our room, helped us with our luggage, and departed. We walked next door to a restaurant, ate great pizza and went back to our room and went to bed.
A great day touring Rome took place, and I’ll tell you about it later.
10:30 this morning we were picked up on schedule by private taxi and taken to Civitavecchia and dropped off at the ship before noon. Here’s where the “I’m too tired to tell you” comes in, but suffice it to say that we were listed not as David and Bonnie Sisler, but as Guest Speaker and Guest Speaker – actually they didn’t have her, only me. There are two other guest speakers on board this cruise, all of whom were listed as Guest Speaker, and a Catholic priest, also named Guest Speaker. We finally got on board after 2 p.m., and rushed to lunch before the 3 p.m. lifeboat drill.
Once on board I discovered that Guest Services didn’t have any idea how my talks were scheduled or when or where. Around 7 p.m. tonight I found that out (usually there is a letter and a schedule waiting in our room – which by the way is great: the best stateroom we’ve had). I am on tomorrow with “Alexander Selkirk: The Real Robinson Crusoe” at 4 p.m. And I know the rest of my times and the order of my talks. Yippee!
Ate supper tonight – great steak – with Father Karl, the Catholic priest. We discussed Vatican II and the upcoming Methodist schism.
The welcome aboard show was very good, and now we are back in our room, ready for a good night’s sleep and a nice breakfast in the dining room tomorrow.
I promise better stuff in the days ahead, and my companion said she would add to upcoming blogs as well.
Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts sent out way.
TTFN
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